The Third Brother
by ArdenBF
Summary: Seto Kaiba narrates his life. From the orphanage to getting adopted and to adult life, read as action, adventure, friendships, and sadness pursues as Kaiba recalls past memories before finally showing you what's going on in the present time.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: How It Happened

I had quite a few monsters on the field. Four. It was my turn.

Swiping my card from my hand, I placed it on my Duel Disk and summoned the monster; Enraged Battle Ox.

"I summon Enraged Battle Ox in attack mode and attack your Kuriboh!" I said. Enraged Battle Ox raised its axe and started to attack Kuriboh.

"I reveal my face-down card, Multiply! It multiplies all my Kuriboh and shields him from your attack." My opponent, Yugi Muto, said.

My Enraged Battle Ox was back on my side of the field.

"I end my turn." I said.

Yugi drew a card from his deck.

"I summon Slifer the Sky Dragon!" Yugi said. All the monsters on his side of the field vanished, including the multiple Kuribohs.

A pink light came down from the sky and landed in front of Yugi.

"I end my turn." He said.

_"__No__...__he __summoned __Slifer__! __Unless __if __I __summon __a __strong __monster__, __I __can't __win__!" _I thought as I gazed at the large red dragon on the field.

I drew a card from my deck, my eyes widening once I saw it.

Obelisk the Tormentor.

What's even better was that I had enough monsters to summon it.

"I sacrifice my X-Head Cannon, Blizzard Dragon, and Luster Dragon to summon Obelisk the Tormentor!" I said as I laid the monster on my Duel Disk.

A blue light flew down onto the field in front of me and it soon appeared on the field.

"Now I'll use Battle Ox and Enraged Battle Ox to activate Obelisk's special effect!"

Obelisk grabbed the two Oxes and squeezed them, causing them to become a yellow light and fly into him. I noticed the cards in Yugi's hand.

Three.

Slifer's attack power is infinite, but his power is determined by what's in the holder's hand. In this case, Yugi held three cards, so that meant Slifer had 3000 attack points.

_"I have a chance to finally take him down!"_ I thought.

"Obelisk, FIST OF FURY!" I yelled as I held my hand out in front of me.

Obelisk pulled a fist back as it then crashed into Slifer. It disappeared as all of Yugi's life points depleted to zero.

All the monsters and face-down cards disappeared off the field as I realized what just happened.

I won.

My title has been reclaimed.

Yugi fell to his knees. I began to laugh as I walked over to Yugi. I crossed my arms once I stood before him.

"I've won, Yugi. I'm finally the number one Duelist again!" I said as I laughed.

"Wake up, Kaiba." Yugi said.

"What?!"

Yugi began to stand up.

"Wake up." He repeated.

Everything around me began to fade to black.

But just before it became completely black, I swear I saw the face of my stepfather, Gozaburo Kaiba. His face disappeared as soon as I saw it.

I woke up in my room. It was all a dream.

It was raining outside, followed by thunder. I began to get dressed until I saw my stepbrother, Noah, in the doorway with Mokuba next to him.

"The principal just called. School's out for today due to all the thunder." Noah said.

Before I could say anything, Noah and Mokuba walked away, talking to each other about playing a game.

So I got dressed in different clothes instead: a black turtleneck with a Duel Monsters locket hanging around my neck given to me by my little brother, black pants, a white trenchcoat with gray studs and a magenta underside, black shoes, a green belt with gray studs and a gray KC in the middle of it, and lastly, two blue belts each on my arms and near my ankles.

I looked out the window as I wondered what could be so bad about a little rain.

But no. It wasn't just a little rain. The rain was pouring down onto the streets of Domino, the thunder crackling here and there and being rather loud.

No wonder why we couldn't go to school today.

I sat down at my desk as I remembered my dream.

"Why did that pathetic excuse for a stepfather appear in my dream?" I muttered angrily as I rubbed my forehead.

That was when I began to remember how everything happened. Since you're here, I guess I'll tell you.

But I think a different point of view would be better for a few minutes.  
**IN THE PAST**  
In a certain household, a young boy, around twelve and with short brown hair, pale skin, and blue eyes was currently answering a phone in his house that was ringing. His Father had been dead for a few years now. He doesn't know why or how he died since his Father wasn't home that often.

However, he **_DID _**care about his family; he was just busy working a lot of the time.

"Little bro, come here! The hospital needs us and they told us to bring our stuff!" The older boy says, hanging the phone up. A younger brother with long black hair and tanned skin walks into the room, rubbing his blue eyes with his mouth slightly opened.

He's seven years old.

The Mother of these two boys would sometimes show her two children pictures of the four of them together when their Father was still alive.

In the picture the brothers could remember the most, their Dad had somewhat of a muscular body frame. He was wearing a sleeveless white shirt and navy blue shorts. He was grinning, had his left arm up, and had a thumbs up that was pointing close to his chin. His right hand was on his waist. Like I said earlier, their Dad's hair was shorter. Unlike the younger brother, his hair stopped at the nape of his neck.

Getting back to the kids, the names of the two brothers were Seto and Mokuba.

"I heard you calling my name, Seto. I just woke up from a nap." Said the black haired brother.

"It's fine, Mokuba. Now pack some stuff up." The older brother said.

"Like what?" The little brother asked.

"As long as you have enough of what you want, you can pack anything."

Seto walked to his room and packed some of his stuff into an orange bag. He put his Duel Monster deck in his pocket. Mokuba began to suspect why his brother was acting weird, but he packed some of his stuff into his own bag like he was told anyway.

After they finished that, they closed the doors to their rooms and met up outside of their rooms. Their backpacks were on their backs.

"Got all the stuff you want, Mokie?" Seto asks. Mokuba nods.

"Good. I do as well. Let's go." Seto says. Next, he walked around the rest of the house and made sure all the other doors in the house were shut.

When that was finished with, he and his younger brother walks out of the house. He makes sure to lock the door behind him. He and his brother get to the hospital safely.

Once they get into the hospital, the older brother walks over to the reception desk and told the man sitting there that they were here to see their Mother. Their Mother had left them at home for a few days and her sons didn't know where her room was.

But don't worry. A friend of hers would check on the boys every day.

"All right. Wait here and I'll go tell a Nurse that you need to see your Mother." The man said. Seto nodded. The man got out of his chair and walked away from the two boys.

"Don't worry, Mokie. Everything's gonna be fine. I'll make sure of it." The older brother, the boy named Seto, says to his little brother.

The name of the younger brother was Mokuba.

_"It's a good thing that we were here beforehand." _Seto thought to himself.

Mokuba just nodded at what his brother said earlier and looked down at the ground.

The man from the reception desk came back to the boys.

"I told a Nurse. She should be here soon." He told them. Seto nodded. The man sat back down in his desk.

"Seto and Mokuba?" A voice said.

"Here." Seto said. He looked down the hall towards the voice.

"Your Mother would like to see you in her hospital room." The voice said. It belonged to a Nurse.

"Okay." Seto said. He and his brother stood up from their chairs and they followed the Nurse down the hallway to their Mother's room.

When they arrived in their Mother's room, the Nurse closed the door behind the two boys and the brothers sat down in two chairs.

Their Mother smiled at them from her bed.

Their Mother had long brown hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She looked a lot like her son Seto.

She wore that hospital gown-even though it wasn't necessarily a gown, but that's what people called it-that patients in the hospital always wear as well. Her bangs were messy and in her eyes. Her hair was also pretty messy due to laying in that bed for a while.

But Seto noticed that the smile their Mom gave them was a sad smile. Not an exuberant one that her sons were so used to seeing back when she wasn't in the hospital all the time.

"Mom, why do you look so sad?" Seto asked.

"Hey, boys. I look sad because I'm not doing so well." She said, looking at Seto.

"That's okay, right? You'll be better soon, Mom!" Mokuba said cheerfully.

Their Mom smiled down at Mokuba and shook her head sadly.

"No, Mokuba. It's not exactly like that."

Mokuba tilted his head in confusion. The poor young boy was too young to understand what his Mother meant.

"I'm...dying. I should have told you boys before, but I didn't know how. That's why you two got called here. As it turns out, I have pancreatic cancer and I didn't even know I had it. I mean, I had some symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, belly and back pain, and some vomiting, but I never thought it was that bad until it got worse. I always thought I was just exhausted or something." Their Mother said.

Mokuba's eyes widened as he stood up in his chair. Seto immediately stood up and stood at his Mother's bedside. She smiled at him and held his hand.

"No, Mom! Don't say that! You'll get better. I promise you will!" Seto said.

"Seto, don't worry. I've already found you boys a good orphanage to stay at until you two get adopted. I only want to stay with you two longer...even if only for a moment. But I can't. I'm so sorry for this, boys. But you have to know one thing; this pancreatic cancer isn't my fault."

Their Mother slowly started sliding backwards on her bed.

"I called you boys here so we can tell each other our final good byes. I won't make it. I already called someone to come pick you up after this." She said. She looked at Seto. She smiled at him sadly. A tear fell from both of her eyes.

"Good bye, Seto." She said.

"M-Mom..." Seto said sadly as he stared at his Mother, tears filling his eyes.

Her hand was released from holding onto her eldest son's hand.

"Mama...we need you!" Mokuba said from his Mother's bedside.

"Sorry Mokuba, but it's just...my time." She whispered. She looked over at Mokuba.

"Good bye, Mokuba."

"M-Mama..." Mokuba whispered.

Their Mother's head hit the pillow.

"I love you both so much..." She whispered. She looked up towards the ceiling.

She was completely up against the bed now.

"Don't either of you ever forget that." Their Mother whispered for the final time.

She tilted her head to the side. Then she shut her eyes...

...And the monitor went off.

It beeped like crazy.

As the beeping was getting more and more raucous for the boys, Seto looked around the room to see if anything was left behind.

Nothing that belonged to their family was there.

For some reason, Seto didn't bother to sulk about his Mother's death for long. Maybe it was because he was the older brother, or maybe because it wouldn't get him or his little brother anywhere.

Mokuba touched his Mother's hand.

His eyes widened when he realized it was cold. She wasn't coming back.

Two Nurses came in as Seto and Mokuba sadly walked out of their Mother's room. Seto wiped away his oncoming tears as he closed the door behind him.

"Good bye, Mom..." Seto muttered. Mokuba looked at his big brother sadly. He couldn't bring himself to say good bye to his Mother.

After that, the two boys walked back down the hallways to the front of the hospital. Even though he was sad, Seto kept his head up so he could find his way out of the hospital. Mokuba kept his head down and followed Seto.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" The man at the reception desk asked them.

He got no response from either of the boys and decided it was best to stay quiet.

The two boys soon found themselves standing outside of the hospital.

Mokuba rubbed his eye. He was either wiping away a tear or he was tired.

While the boys were waiting for the person who'd take them to the orphanage, a strange looking man stood next to them. He looked at Seto. Seto ignored him.

The man looked mysterious. He had a long gray beard, a green hoodie that was opened and with the hood pulled over his head, a brown shirt, black pants, and what looked like brown boots to Seto. Due the the hood covering his head, Seto couldn't see his hair or his eyes, and he didn't care to guess what they looked like.

He thought of the man as just a suspicious person that they should stay away from so they'd be safe.

Eventually, the man stood behind Seto.

"Hey little boy, what's wrong?" He asked, putting a hand on his shoulder. Seto couldn't even respond with a cold "what" due to the man putting his hand on his shoulder.

Startled due to not knowing the man, Seto immediately pulled his shoulder out from the man's grip, turned around, and glared at him.

The man smiled and laid another hand on him.

Seto began to get creeped out. What was his problem? Is he being creepy on purpose? If he keeps this up, Seto just might have to teach him a lesson-the hard way.

Seto once again pulled his shoulder out from the man's grip and backed up, pushing Mokuba along with him. The man frowned and walked back up to Seto.

"What's the matter? Do you need a ride home?" The man asked.

Okay, this was enough. He wasn't gonna back off, and there was no way Seto was gonna tell him anything.

When he got close enough, Seto punched him and gave him a swift kick to the gut. The man fell down.

"Why you little-!" The man said, his voice trailing off.

He got up and tried to put a hand on Seto, but Seto made a fist and brings it down upon the hand, making the man's hand retreat.

The man brings up two hands this time. Seto makes two fists and brings them down upon the man's two hands.

The man finally lost it. He tried to punch Seto, but Seto catches his fist in the palm of his right hand while bringing his left fist up towards his face and throws the man's fist to the side.

The man holds out both hands once again. Instead of punching them down, Seto punched them away. He was seriously getting tired of this guy and was about to lose his temper.

He figured he'd dodge the man next time.

The man shakes his hands. After that, he held his hands out again, but he didn't lunge. Once the man got close enough, Seto dodged him and gave him another kick, but this time to his back. The man fell to the ground.

The man got up and glared at Seto. He walked faster towards him this time.

"Why are you being so-"

"GET AWAY FROM US!" Seto shouted at him. The man glared at Seto and continued walking towards him.

Seto punched him in the face. The man glared at Seto, holding onto his cheek.

He lunged at Seto one more time. Seto dodged him and glared at the man.

Finally, the man walked away, muttering angrily under his breath about how he was only wondering why both of them were so sad.

_"__Oops__." _Seto thought.

Seto watched him walk away. While watching him walk away, Seto thought that similar situations like that would happen at the orphanage they were supposed to go to.

_"He didn't take my deck, did he?"_ Seto thought, putting his hand in his pants pocket. His deck was still in there. He took his deck out and checked through all the cards. He looked to his side to see Mokuba looking at the cards.

"Why do you have your card deck out, Seto?" Mokuba asked. Seto takes a card out of his deck and puts the rest of his deck away.

"Just making sure I still had it after that fight with that weird man, Mokuba. Someday I'll get a better deck, but for now, these cards will do." Seto says.

"Hey Seto, what if you and that old guy dueled?"

"I'm not sure. A kid dueling an older man? It didn't look like he had a deck on him."

"Yeah, I guess he didn't." Mokuba said.

"But I'll tell ya what I can do, Mokuba." Seto said.

Seto took the card that was in his hand and tried to throw it at the man, but being a card, it missed and didn't go far. Seto walked over to it, picked it up, put it in his pocket, and walked back over to Mokuba.

There was nothing but silence between the two boys.

Seto always wanted a better deck. If he got a better one someday, that was when he decided that his old deck could go to Mokuba.

"Mokie, if I ever get a better deck someday, do you know what I'll do with my old one?" Seto asked his little brother.

"No. What will you do with it?"

"I'll give it to you!" Seto said as he rubbed his head.

Mokuba chuckled as a van drove up to them. The doors of the van opened. What appeared to be a young adult male looked out at them from the driver's seat, wearing a blue cap on his head.

"Seto and Mokuba?" The driver asked. The boys nodded.

"I thought it was you two. Get in." The driver said to them.

So Seto and Mokuba got in the van, closed the doors, and the van drove away from the hospital. They set their backpacks next to them.

Well, Mokuba did. Seto had his backpack by his feet.

As they were driven down an unfamiliar road, Seto and Mokuba both let their minds wander.

But this was their life now, and both boys knew they would have to make the best of it.

Both boys narrowed their eyes as their minds became occupied with thoughts that might happen to them in their new lives. Thoughts that were both bad and good.  
**Back to Seto's POV**  
That young boy with brown hair was me.

Before my name was Seto Kaiba, I was known to everyone as just Seto.

When the van stopped, the doors opened and Mokuba and I grabbed our bags and put them on our backs.

We closed the van doors behind us once we got out. It drove away.

We were now standing in front of a brown building with sliding glass doors, brown steps, windows, and white walls.

To the front of the building was a gate. Two men were standing in front of the gate. One wore a brown suit while the other one wore a green suit.

We looked away from the building and down the streets. It was an unfamiliar place in Domino City for us. Both of us looked back at the building we were in front of.

Mokuba gripped tightly onto the back of my sky blue sweater vest.

"Don't worry, Mokuba. I promise that as long as I'm here, you'll be just fine with me. I just hope we get a good family to adopt us both, and at least some fun adventures on the way while we're here. I'll make sure we're just fine!" I said as I stared ahead.

_"I'll make sure we get adopted together!" _I thought.

"Me too, Seto." Mokuba said, staring straight ahead at the unfamiliar building.

Mokuba stopped clinging onto my vest and gripped my hand instead. We started walking towards the gate.

As Mokuba and I looked at the orphanage, from then on out, I knew I'd always try my best to protect my little brother.

It was then when a determined look made its way onto my face.

"We will get adopted, Mokuba! We will. I'll make it happen." I said. Mokuba didn't respond.

Mokuba let go of my hand.

"Welcome, boys." One of the men said. It was the one in the green suit.

"I run this place, but sometimes my friends help out." He said.

"Follow us." The one in the brown suit said. They started walking in front of us. We followed behind them.

They led us to the front of the orphanage. We were soon standing in front of a door. The two men walked inside. We followed them.

They showed us everything. The bathrooms, the playroom, where we'd sleep, you know.

The only thing they didn't show us was the bed we would sleep in. But I figured I could find out later.

After the tour finished, they walked away and left us standing there in the front room. I walked outside with my little brother, walked away from the orphanage, turned around, and looked it over again. Mokuba walked next to me and looked it over again.

We took a few steps forward and began walking towards our new home, just like earlier. We stopped when we heard a voice behind us.

Mokuba walked over to the side of the orphanage.

I turned around. It was a boy that I had never seen before. He had some friends with him.

"Are you new here?" He asked.

"Yeah. What do you want?" I asked.

"I just wanted to show you what your life might be like for now, or at least while you're here." He said.

He raised a fist to punch me. I dodged him.

_"Again? Oh, well. I can take '__im__ down."_

I retaliated by grabbing his wrist and yanked on it, making him fall forward and into the dirt. He turned around in the dirt, kicking some dirt into the air and he stood up.

He tried to punch me.

I dodged it and tripped him. He tripped, but caught his balance and turned around. He tried to punch me again, but I ducked and pushed him.

He fell forward and into the dirt once again. He got up once again and made a fist. He raised it to punch me and ran at me.

I grabbed his wrist and punched him in the face.

"Just leave us alone. We don't need this right now." I said.

The boy frowned.

"Fine. We'll come back later, and don't you forget it. Let's go, guys." He said.

He turned around and walked off with his friends. I turned back around and walked back towards the front of the orphanage.

"This is it." I said when we stood outside on the steps.

"This is our new home, little bro."

Mokuba just nodded.

"Let's go in, Mokuba."

And once more, we walked into our new home.

Something told me that I wouldn't like my life there, and I didn't.

_"Don't worry, __Mokuba__. We'll get adopted. This is my goal now."_ I thought.

In the present, here I am in my home, looking out a window.

It was almost like I could see these memories play out in the window.

From then on out, I promised that I'd always protect him as much as I could if I couldn't always protect him. And besides, I wouldn't always be there to protect him, but he would one day learn that.

I was never going to be the same after that day. After a while, Mokuba would notice my personality slowly beginning to change. Although he would be concerned at first, after a while he'd get used to it.

I sat down at my desk and took a laptop out from a drawer, turning it on and watching it boot up.

But don't worry. You'll get to see how that happens soon, even though it takes a while. Not only that, but Mokuba would predict something in a weird way more than once.

_End __chapter_

**Hey guys. Just so you know,**** this is yaoi free, so if you were looking for a _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ shipping story (some people ship Seto and Mokuba but they are NOT a couple in this story...it's weird to me), exit this, as this is not a story that'll contain any ships. I'm just letting you know because people on Wattpad will sometimes add this story onto their yaoi reading lists (even though I clearly put that it's not yaoi in the description) and it annoys me. Again, if you were looking for YGO! gay stuff, this is NOT the story for you. I also don't write yaoi/shounen-ai because I'm just not comfortable with it.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A New Home Means New Beginnings

**Seto's POV  
**I was twelve and he was seven when all this happened.

On that fateful day, I was wearing a sky blue sweater vest and a pale, yellow long-sleeved shirt. I also wore dark blue jeans and gray sneakers with white soles. I had an orange bag with me that contained a few of my belongings.

The belongings in my bag were mainly for entertainment. I had quite a few books in there. Oh, and I had clothes in there too, of course.

Meanwhile, Mokuba wore a green sweater and navy blue shorts. He also wore white socks and lavender sneakers with white soles. A yellow backpack was on his back.

We were standing in front of the orphanage door after our little tour and a small fight.

"This is it. This is our new home, little bro." I said as we stepped onto the steps of the orphanage.

"Let's go in, Mokuba."

I put my hand on the door and opened it.

Mokuba stopped holding onto my vest and walked quietly over to a swing. He sat down on it and stared at the ground, not even bothering to swing back and forth on the swing.

I walked inside and saw a bunch of kids, even four year old kids, or from what they looked like, staring at me.

Guess they hadn't seen me when Mokuba and I had our little tour of the orphanage.

Ignoring them, I sat my orange backpack down in a chair, unzipped my backpack, stuck my hand into my backpack, and sat down. I took a book out of my bag and opened the cover up to see the table of contents.

After a while, the other kids stopped staring at me and continued doing what they were originally doing.

Mokuba never talked much to anyone when we were in the orphanage. The only people he would talk to were me and Brandon, a friend we made there.

Who's Brandon? Funny you ask that. He actually comes into my life just about now.

Just as I was about to read the first chapter of my book, I heard quick footsteps run into the room.

A boy with black hair, red t-shirt, and wearing gray cargo shorts ran into the room. He was barefoot and skidded across the floor. I guess he was being chased.

He tripped over himself and fell to the floor. When he got up, he looked at me and waved.

"Hey, new kid! I'm Brandon." He said. I was about to wave back when he looked towards the hallway.

"Gotta run! See ya!" He said. He ran away as three kids followed in pursuit.

"GET HIM!"

"LITTLE PRANKSTER!"

"GO FASTER, GUYS, BEFORE HE FARTS AGAIN AND BUYS HIMSELF SOME TIME!"

I didn't bother to read my book after that happened. Instead, I looked out of the window. It was now sunset.

My eyes settled on Mokuba. He was still sitting on the swing, his eyes still locked on the ground.

I put my book in my bag and zipped it back up.

I got up from my chair, walked to the door, opened the door, and walked outside towards Mokuba.

I walked next to his swing and smiled at him.

"Hey, Mokie."

Mokuba looked over at me.

"Huh? Hey, Seto. How'd ya know I was out here?" He asked.

Still smiling, I reached a hand out and patted his head.

"Lucky guess. Look pal, cheer up. We gotta make the most a' this place. C'mon, Mokie. Let's take a little walk." I replied.

Mokuba smiled and perked up a bit. He got off the swing as I started walking off the orphanage grounds. He followed quickly behind me. We were soon walking along a sidewalk of Domino City.

I looked up at the sky. It sure was windy outside.

Before I knew it, we were heading back to the orphanage. We stopped and stared at the sky.

Mokuba started to rub his eyes. I looked down at him.

"Okay, spill it. What's on yer mind?" I asked.

"I miss Mom and Dad. I wish that they were here with us right now. It's not fair that they left us here all alone."

I hardened the look on my face and put a hand on his shoulder. Mokuba looked up at me as I stared ahead.

"C'mon! No crying. Tears aren't gonna help us now. There's only one way you and I are gonna get through all this. We've got t' get tough. Emotions will only get in the way of our survival." I said.

"Tough?"

We started to walk back to the orphanage.

"That's right. Don't expect anyone else to help us ever again. You and I are on our own now." I said.

I walked back to the orphanage, trying to get there from my memory. I began to find myself getting back there, and soon Mokuba and I had both reached the orphanage.

I didn't hear the footsteps that were eventually behind us on the way back.

At the entrance of the orphanage, unfamiliar voices made me turn around.

"What are you two doing out so late? Are you two lost?" Said a mean-looking boy who was cracking his knuckles. There were four other boys behind him.

It was the same boy from earlier. He was back like he said he'd be.

"Just on a walk." Said Mokuba, unaware about what was gonna happen.

The group of bullies closed in on us as the other four behind the leader stepped out from behind him and stood next to him.

"Is that so?"

"Mokuba. Run into the orphanage." I whispered.

"Why?"

"It's the same kid from earlier! Just run in there! Now!" I said as I turned my head as best as I could in order to see him. I turned my head back to the boys as Mokuba ran inside the orphanage.

"Even though he might be safe, you won't be."

The boys closed in on me. I looked around them in order to find a weakness.

Once they closed in on me, I punched the ones that were closest to me. I kicked the one that had managed to get next to me. I managed to block a few attacks while taking some, too.

When one of the five bullies reached for me, I dodged him and punched him in the gut. Next, I attacked the one next to him with a headbutt.

For the third one, I dodged his punch and responded by punching him hard in the face. As for the fourth one, he was clever. While I was fighting the other three, who were now on the floor, the fourth one decided to ambush me by going behind me.

He physically restrained me.

"Now you shouldn't be so much trouble." The leader said.

Before he could punch me, I managed to bite one arm of the bully restraining me. He cringed in pain but backed away.

And finally, now it was the leader's turn. He attacked first by trying to punch me. I dodged him and punched him.

Missed.

He tried to punch me again, but I grabbed his hand and managed to punch his free arm.

He tried to kick me. I dodged him and kicked him in the shin.

He rubbed his shin and tried to punch me, but instead of punching him back, I grabbed his wrist, managed to pull him forwards, and basically threw him in front of me while I got out of the way.

He tried to turn around, but when he turned around, he lost his balance and fell down. He got up and tried to attack me, but I stopped him with a kick to the gut.

His friends tried to attack me, but they didn't succeed.

Eventually, we were all panting. They all stood up.

"You're never gonna give up, are you?" The leader asked.

I frowned and shook my head.

"Never."

The leader sighed.

"Fine. You beat us up pretty good. We'll just find someone else to pick on."

With that, they all walked away, but limping.

_"I gotta get stronger, and I will." _I thought.

But then the leader stopped and turned his head around.

"You'll never get adopted if you act like this." He said.

"I'll get adopted! Both me and my little brother will! You'll see!" I said.

After watching them walk away from the orphanage, I walked inside the orphanage and I found Mokuba near the doors.

"Are you okay, Seto?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Mokuba. We're safe now." I said.

After that, we eventually found the orphanage owner and I walked over to him.

I never got his name, and I never really cared to get his name either. Mokuba and I were always doing our own thing in that orphanage.

"Where do we sleep?" I asked him, trying to tap his shoulder.

Once I tapped his shoulder, the owner turned around. He looked down at us and nodded.

"Ah, yes. You two are the new children. Seto and Mokuba, correct?" He asked. I nodded.

"That's us, mister."

The orphanage owner nodded.

"I thought so. Well then, come with me and I'll show you two to where you'll both be sleeping." He replied. He turned around and began walking away.

I grabbed my backpack as Mokuba and I followed the orphanage owner to our room. We walked through the hallways, following him, until we were standing in front of a door.

He opened the door and led us inside. It was a bedroom, but it had more than one bed. The other kids from earlier were in that room too, but they were all asleep.

"Like I promised. Here are your beds, you two." He said. He turned around, walked to the door, opened it, closed it behind him, and walked out.

Our beds were identical; the bed frame was made of steel, like all the others. We had the same color pillow, white. Our bed sheets were blue. They were big enough for us.

So Mokuba and I walked to the bathroom. Mokuba changed first and I stood outside. When he finished and walked out, I changed. After we changed our clothes for bed, we walked back to the bedroom, closed the door behind us, and got into bed.

While I was laying down, I noticed a closet on my side of the room. I walked over to the closet and opened it. Inside were a few games. I closed the closet doors.

I walked back over to my bed. I climbed in and pulled the sheets over me.

"Good night, Seto."

"Good night, Mokuba."

I rolled over in my bed and turned away from my little brother.

_"Don't worry, __Mokuba__. We'll get adopted eventually, but let's see how everything plays out for now.__" _I thought. I closed my eyes.

In the present, I'm currently looking out the window. I had always considered myself a pretty tough or brave kid, but from there on out, I knew I had to be brave, and I knew that I would manage to incorporate that into my personality for good after a while of being there.

But I knew that that'll happen sooner than I thought it would.

That orphanage was filled with fun, sad, and scary experiences. It wasn't necessarily sad, though, just more of a bad place to live in.

I sat back down in my desk, pulling up some emails I had gotten about KaibaCorp and answering them.

Once I had answered them, I closed the laptop.

Our greatest experience was yet to come.

As for the rain?

The rain's still heavy, but the thunder is gone.

_End chapter_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Dreams

**Mokuba's POV**  
I remember that dream I had on my first night there. It was a nightmare, and Seto and I were older.

Or so it was at first.

I was being chased by some sort of monster.

The nightmare had a mysterious atmosphere to it. It was dark altogether. Due to it being dark, I never got to see the monster that was chasing me. But I guess I should be happy because of that.

Seto was standing in the corner and his arms were crossed. He was leaning against the wall, not doing a thing. Seto didn't say a word to me in that nightmare. Rather, Seto was just watching me being chased. It wasn't like him.

However, that moment when Seto spoke to me was yet to come.

There was a door with white light shining through it, seeping out from the bottom of the door. I was running towards it. But then, I noticed Seto was running towards the door as well.

He somehow teleported to the door. He turned around to face me and looked down at me once he was in front of it.

"Sorry, Mokuba."

He turned around and closed the door, leaving me in darkness. That white light was gone.

I slumped to the floor, not knowing what to do, as I could no longer see. All I could do was feel around the room now.

I knew I had to get out. I got back up and tried to see through the darkness, but then I heard the door open and close briskly.

"Seto?" I called out into the dark.

No. It wasn't Seto.

It was a monster. If I could describe it, I guess the noise it made sounded like sliding tentacles around a wall of a room.

Speaking of tentacles, at that moment, I felt a slimy tentacle wrap around me. I was being lifted up at that moment.

While I was being lifted up, I saw a flash of green hair on the ground, but it was only that.

I raised my fists and started hitting the tentacle with it. I started kicking my legs.

"Lemme go!" I said.

I banged my fists against it again. I guess it was too much for the tentacle because it raised me back. I stopped hitting it and kicking my legs.

There was a rush of wind as I started being thrown forward. The tentacle quickly unwrapped itself from me as I was being thrown forward. It threw me with great force, the wind rushing around me harder.

When the wind stopped, my back hit the wall. I slumped to the floor. As my legs hit the ground, I noticed that there was something in my pocket.

Before I could pull the thing out of my pocket, I heard a sound rush towards me. I saw something come at me in the dark. I ducked to the side as a tentacle bashed itself into the wall.

The tentacle pulled itself away from the wall.

I quickly got up and tried to run away from the wall as quickly as I could.

I pulled out whatever was in my pocket. It looked like a Duel Monster card. Through the darkness, I could faintly read what looked like Man Eating Plant.

I held the card out in front of me.

"Man Eating Plant, attack that tentacle!" I said. My Man Eating Plant rushed forward and bit off the tentacle. There was a loud **_THUMP!_** as the tentacle hit the ground.

I was about to walk forward and congratulate my monster on its little victory, but then I stopped. I saw what looked like another kid with his back turned to me. He had green hair. I couldn't see the rest of his clothes.

I was about to walk over to him when the door opened. Some light seeped through from the outside, but that light was quickly replaced with darkness as more tentacles flooded the room. It was about three.

_"My Man Eating Plant can't handle all these monsters! What'll I do?"_ I thought.

"Attack!" An unfamiliar voice said. Something sliced through those tentacles. They all fell to the ground, followed by three more loud THUMPS! I couldn't see the monster.

More tentacles flooded the room once again. It was more than just three this time.

My right pocket glowed a bright white. I looked down and pulled the card out.

It was a Blue Eyes White Dragon.

"BLUE EYES, ATTACK THESE TENTACLES!" I yelled. Blue Eyes White Dragon opened its mouth and shot a white beam at all the monsters. There were more loud thumps.

The black room turned brighter. All the monsters, including the tentacles, disappeared.

It was just a plain white room with a door. The door was closed.

I saw the boy who had helped me out. I walked over to him. His back was turned to me. He wore what looked like a dark blue sweater, a red tie, tan shorts that stopped a little above the knee, and brown dress shoes with black knee length socks.

"Thanks for helping me out." I said.

No response. I got confused. I raised a hand to touch his shoulder, but as soon as I touched his shoulder, he disappeared.

Before I could wonder what just happened, the door opened up. Seto walked over to me.

"C'mon, Mokie! You didn't think I'd leave you in the dark just like that, did you?" He asked.

I smiled and shook my head. I stood up.

Seto and I walked out of the door to find ourselves in the orphanage, younger now, but somehow it looked different.

Seto and I started to walk down the hall. Before I knew it, he was leading me to the front of the orphanage.

"Guess what, Mokie? I kept my goal and we got adopted!" Seto said as he walked towards the front door of the orphanage.

"That's great, big bro!" I said.

"You're not leaving this orphanage so happily like that." Said a voice behind us.

Seto turned around. I got out of the way.

It was an unfamiliar boy. He charged at Seto.

Seto put his hand on the boy's head and pushed him to the ground, causing the boy to lose his balance and topple over. He got right back up, though.

He tried to punch Seto in the face. Seto grabbed his wrist and punched him in the face instead.

The boy gripped his face and stood there, shaking. Seto was about to walk away but then the boy kicked his leg, making Seto trip and fall down.

Seto fell to the floor, but he had his hands on the floor. He got up and tried to walk away, motioning me forward as he walked away.

"Come on, Mokuba. We have better things to do." He said.

"I'm not done with you yet! Don't walk away from me just yet!" The boy said.

Seto didn't respond. I thought he was going to attack, but he didn't. He continued walking away.

"Hey! We're not done yet!" The boy who had fought Seto said. Seto continued to walk, ignoring him.

"I see how it is." The boy muttered. Then he yelled out cries and lunged at Seto. Seto ducked, lifted the boy over his head, spun around, and threw the boy onto the floor.

"Ow." The boy muttered. He didn't get back up.

Seto turned around and put his hand on the door.

"Now let's meet our new family, little bro!"

And that was when I woke up.

I wanted to tell Seto, but I decided not to tell him.  
**************  
The next morning was very chilly. It was around ten AM.

I remember playing outside with my toy plane on the ground, but then three boys came up to me and took it away.

"Hey! Give that back!" I said. I couldn't reach my plane. These boys were bigger than me and they kept raising the plane up and down, like they were teasing me.

And then I heard footsteps.

"GIVE THAT BACK TO HIM!" A familiar voice shouted.

I turned around to see my brother running towards the boys. He ran over to the one who was holding my plane and tackled him to the ground.

Seto kept yanking on the plane, but the boy tightened his grip on it. Seto dug his fingers into the back of the plane. He yanked it so hard that the boy lost his grip on it and Seto almost fell onto his back, but he caught himself.

Seto walked over to me and lowered the plane to me.

"Here, Mokuba." He said with a frown. Despite the frown on his face, he was mad at the bullies.

I took my plane back and slowly looked up at my brother.

"Thanks, Seto."

"You know I'm always here for you, Mokie." Seto said as he smiled at me.

In the present, I peered into my brother's office. His back was turned and he was looking out the window.

"When will I see you smile again, Seto?" I asked softly as I looked at his room.

"Do you need something, Mokuba?" Seto asked suddenly, turning around in his chair.

"Oh! No! I was just wondering what you were doing." I said, now standing in his doorway.

"So I see." Seto said, turning back around in his seat. He was typing something on a laptop AND a different computer on his desk.

"Hey big bro, are you gonna throw another tournament soon?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Maybe someday, Mokuba." Seto said.

I decided to leave him alone.

I turned around and walked away.

I walked around the Kaiba mansion as I tried to find something else to pass the time.

_End __chapte__r_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Rainy Days

**Brandon's POV**  
I looked over a tree that I was gonna spray paint.

I had to entertain myself somehow.

When I began to walk over to the orphanage, I noticed Seto and Mokuba. Seto was talking to him, I guess, but I couldn't tell what it was about.

Either way, I shrugged it off-literally-and walked into the orphanage for a spray paint can.

When I finally found one, I smiled. It was a gray, metallic can and I noticed some red on it. I grinned. Just the color I needed!

When I walked back outside, I noticed the bullies walking away from Seto and Mokuba. I nodded as if telling them to back off.

I walked over to the tree I was inspecting earlier and noticed a spot where it would soon be painted-right in the middle!

When I looked over again and stepped out from under my tree, I noticed some dirt was wet. I stuck my hand out and a water droplet fell on it.

"Better do this quick." I muttered.

I walked back to the center of the tree, took the cap off my spray paint bottle, and shook it up. I then outstretched my hand and pressed down on the tip of the can.

A red stream of color flew out onto the tree. Now I wasn't gonna do anything major; I was just gonna spray paint a little of the tree in red.

Once I finished, I smiled and put the cap back on my bottle.

When I stepped out from the tree, I realized the rain was pouring. I started running inside the orphanage.

Once inside, I put my spray bottle away and heard a voice:

"That's the last time, Brandon! Let's teach him a lesson!" Someone said.

So you see, Seto and Mokuba aren't only the ones with bullies.

I started walking to the bedroom I stayed at when a taunting voice was heard close behind me.

"Brandon."

I turned around to see my bully, Matt, with his other friend. I just sighed.

"I was bored." I said.

Matt laughed.

"Allow me to entertain you, then."

He immediately tried to punch me, but I dodged it just in time. I punched him in the shoulder.

Success!

His friend tried to tackle me, but I leaped to the side and he fell to the floor.

He just stayed there and sighed.

When I turned around, I was greeted with a fist right to the forehead. I staggered back, but I wasn't giving up.

I returned the punch to Matt, but instead, I punched him right in the eye.

"I think that's enough fighting, don't you?" I asked.

Matt didn't reply.

I started walking away.

"Give up, Brandon." Matt said.

"Me? Give up? No way! Someday you'll watch me get adopted!" I said as I opened the door to the bedroom.

"We'll just see about that."

That made me yell.

"I'M GONNA GET ADOPTED BY A NICE FAMILY SOMEDAY, JUST YOU WAIT!"  
**Mokuba's POV**  
"I'M GONNA GET ADOPTED BY A NICE FAMILY SOMEDAY, JUST YOU WAIT!" A familiar voice said. I looked towards the door to see Brandon in the doorway and yelling at something.

Brandon walked over to us.

Two kids walked in afterwards with a black eye and the other one just looked tired. I guess they got into a fight with Brandon after telling him he'll never get adopted or something. They sat on a bed as they groaned.

"Hey Seto, you have Duel Monster cards, right?" Brandon asked. My brother nodded.

"Why don't we duel?" Brandon said with a grin.

Seto grinned, nodded, and stood up.

"Okay. You're on!" Seto said. They both sat down at a table and took their card decks out. I stayed on my bed.

Before I knew it, their duel was almost over.

"And now, my monster attacks your monster, finishing off your life points!" Seto said.

Brandon sighed, but then he smiled as he took his card off of the table.

"Ha ha, good game! That was fun!"

Both boys reorganized their decks and got up from the table.

"I'm gonna go see what everyone else is doing. See ya!" Brandon said, waving and walking out of the room.

"Okay! See ya, Brandon!" Seto said as he waved back at Brandon. Seto walked back over to his bed and was sitting across from me once again.

After a while, I stood up. I walked away from my bed.

"Mokuba?" I heard Seto say. I didn't answer.

I sat down in a seat at a table, but it wasn't the same table Brandon and Seto had been using for their duel. I looked at Seto and directed my attention back towards the table. I drummed my fingers on the table.

Seto walked over to me and sat down on the other seat.

"Bored, huh?" Seto asked.

I looked at him.

"Yeah. Like you already said, it's a depressing day." I said. My big brother nodded.

"That's true. I'll be right back, Mokuba."

Seto got up from his seat, walked over to the bedroom closet, opened it, and he knelt down. I saw him rummage around in there for a while.

"I thought I saw a chess board in here somewhere. Where could it be?" My brother asked himself, still searching for something. Eventually, I saw him reach up for something on the top shelf.

"There we go! Found it!" He said, pulling it down and looking at it. I could see the two words _"Chess Board" _on it. My brother smiled and he walked back over to me.

"I knew they still had it." He said, sitting back down in his seat.

He looked at me and smiled.

"Wanna trying playing against me?" He asked.

"I don't see why not." I said, my eyes widening.

Seto continued to smile as he set the chess board on the table so that we could play.

"Let's play in the playroom. We'll have more room that way." Seto said.

We walked out into the playroom. Seto still held onto the Chess game. We pulled two chairs up to a table.

"That's better. Are you ready to play, Mokuba?" Seto asked, taking a chess piece out of the slot to the side of it. I nodded and also took a piece out.

"Yup! Let's go!" I said, grinning.

So we played chess for a few hours. Throughout the game, I looked around and noticed that a lot of kids had gathered around us to watch. Some of them eventually got bored and walked away to do something else while others stayed to watch.

"Sorry, Mokie. Checkmate." Seto said, finishing his final move.

"Again?" I said sadly. But then I smiled.

"And in just five moves this time! You're like, the best chess player in the whole entire world!" I said as I looked at my brother, who was grinning and had his arms crossed.

"Well, almost." He said.

"Oh yeah? Name one person who's better at chess than you."

"You if you'd just concentrate."

"Fine, let's play again!" I said, stifling a laugh.

And so we organized our chess pieces again and prepared for another round.

After we finished playing a few more rounds of chess and other games, it was dark outside.

_"Wow. Time really flew by today." _I thought.

You know that saying "Time flies when you're having fun."? It's true.

I saw Seto clean up the pieces and put the Chess Board back in its box. Brandon picked up the other games, which weren't a lot.

We stood up from the table and pushed the chairs back in.

Seto and I walked back into the bedroom. Seto walked over the closet, put the Chess game back in its place in the closet, closed its doors, and walked back over to me.

"It's pretty dark outside. We should go to bed." Seto said. I nodded.

We got changed for bed and got into our beds. We said goodnight to each other.

I rolled over in my bed.

Well, in the end, I had never beaten Seto at Chess, no matter how hard I would try.

I guess Chess really is a tough game, or at least depending on the people you play against.

But it's okay. We haven't played chess ever since we left the orphanage.

And Duel Monsters can be pretty tough, too!  
**WITH BRANDON-His POV**  
I was in a different room. I was punching a punching bag. I was kicking it, too. I've gotten picked on a few times in this orphanage, so when it happened the next time, I wanted to be stronger.

I was sweating. I had been at this for a while.

I jumped in the air and kicked the bag, making it move, but not a huge move. I clenched my fists harder and kept punching it. The more I punched it, the more it moved.

I raised my arm back, clenching my left fist hard, and punched the bag as hard as I could. I smiled when I managed to send it flying, but I didn't knock it off its stand on the floor.

_"Once more!"_

I raised my right arm back and clenched my right fist hard. I punched the punching bag as hard as I could like last time. I managed to knock the punching bag off its stand and it landed right next to me. I grinned, picked it up, and set it back on the stand in case if anyone else wanted to use it.

I sat down on the bench and drank out of my water bottle I had brought with me. I wiped the sweat off my forehead with the towel I brought with me.

I stood up and walked out of the room with a grin on my face.

_"Get ready, bullies, 'cause I definitely think I'm stronger than last time!"_

_End chapter_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Almost Their First Adoption

**Seto's POV**  
I was in some black void. It was another one of those dreams. I was older again.

I saw some kid who looked like Mokuba from behind, with long black hair and a puffy yellow jacket.

"Mokuba!" I said as I ran towards the kid.

"Seto?" The kid said as he turned around.

Yup, it was Mokuba.

I ran towards him and grabbed him with one hand.

"Let's go, Mokuba! We're being chased!" I said.

"By who, big bro?"

That was what I wasn't sure about, so I didn't answer Mokuba. The more I ran, the more the black void began to fade away. We had run into a white hallway with security cameras in them.

I took a card out from my white trenchcoat and hit all of the cameras with that card. All of them were taken out with a tiny explosion by that same card. It had come back to me like a boomerang after taking out each security camera.

Since when can a card take out a security camera? Whatever the case, I continued to run while still holding onto Mokuba with one hand.

It seemed like I thought we were safe after a while. After we had fled into a room, I set Mokuba down.

"We're safe now, Mokuba." I said.

I began to say something else until I heard unfamiliar yelling.

That was when I woke up. I got dressed for the day and walked outside. I noticed everyone playing kickball, so I joined after the round was over.

While we were playing a new round of kickball, the orphanage owner interrupted our game.

"Children, there are two people who want to adopt one of you. Please come to the front of the orphanage so the couple can decide which one of you they would like."

We all followed him to the front of the orphanage. It was a sunny day. A car was in the orphanage's driveway.

Everyone stood in line. I stood next to Mokuba, of course. I watched as the car door opened.

_"This is our chance to get __outta__ this place!" _I thought.

A couple, a man and a woman, stepped out of the car.

The man had black hair, blue eyes, and side swept bangs. He wore a black closed blazer with gold buttons and a white shirt underneath. For bottoms, he wore black dress pants and black dress shoes.

_"What's with all the black? Is he depressed or did a skunk die? Or maybe he just came from his work place." _I thought.

Meanwhile, the woman had dirty blonde hair and green eyes. Her hair was down. It was long and wavy. Her bangs were straight down, but parted in the middle.

The woman wore a long red dress and white wavy sleeves at the end of each dress sleeve. Her dress reached the floor.

She had a green emerald in the middle of her dress and a big bust size. She looked at her husband as the owner of the orphanage walked up to them.

"Ah, Mister and Missus Mikono?" He asked.

"That's us." Mister Mikono said.

"Ah! Well, please take a look around the orphanage and find a child you both think you might like."

I didn't want Mokuba and I to get separated, so I made sure he was close. He held onto the back of my sweater vest.

The couple walked towards each kid.

"Ew, no. You look like a slob." Missus Mikono said to a kid named Brandon.

"But I'm-"

"Be quiet, boy! Not another word from you!" Missus Mikono scolded him like there was no yesterday, as poor Brandon hung his head down.

_"And how does he look like a slob? Is it because he's just wearing a t-shirt and shorts? He's so nice!" _I thought.

Before I knew it, the two of them had walked over to me and Mokuba.

_"Never mind. I'd rather have __Mokuba__ and I get adopted by someone else. Get away. Get away. Avoid us. We don't need you. Get out of here, __slimeballs__!" _I thought. I really hoped that this nasty couple wouldn't take us away to live with them. Or even worse...

SEPARATE us?!

Mister Mikono looked down at me.

"Hhmm...I like this boy." He said. His wife nodded.

"Yes, dear. He looks like a propitious and intelligent young boy. Those clothes he wears better make us proud." Missus Mikono said.

Then she looked down to see Mokuba's head poking out from behind me.

"Uuummm...sir, what's wrong with the black haired kid?"

"Nothing. They're brothers, Missus Mikono."

"Oh."

Then Missus Mikono yanked on my sweater vest and pulled me away from my little brother with a strong grip.

"Come, boy. Forget about your brother." Mister Mikono said.

"Yes, you shall come with us."

"SETO!" Mokuba shouted.

I started hitting her arm until she let go. She turned around and stared at me.

"No way! I'm not leaving this orphanage without my little brother Mokuba! So if you want me, you'll have to take Mokuba with you as well! It's my goal for the both of us to be adopted!" I shouted at them. I ended up kicking Missus Mikono in the shin.

If she had a tighter grip this time, I would probably never see Mokuba again.

No way was I gonna let that happen!

I turned around and ran towards Mokuba, calling his name.

"Aaagghh...that brat! Get him!" I heard Missus Mikono say.

I continued to run towards my brother when I heard moans farther behind me. I turned around to see that the Mikono's had been tripped by Brandon and some other girl.

The girl noticed me looking at them and nodded.

"Go on, Seto! We've given you some time, but they'll get up soon!" Brandon said.

"THANKS GUYS!" I said, turning away from them and running towards my brother.

When I was close enough, I grabbed Mokuba and ran into the orphanage. I found a good hiding place; under our beds in the bedroom.

I hid under my bed and Mokuba hid under his own. The both of us tried to quiet down our breathing for fear of being found.

I heard the married couple and orphanage owner outside of the room, searching for us.

"They couldn't have gone far! They were just here! Every kid here must be rotten! The kid we wanted kicked me and two other kids tripped us!" Missus Mikono said. I could see her limping from under my bed.

"It's just two children, dear. And honey, just because a boy kicked you and two kids tripped us doesn't mean that every kid in this place is a bad child." I heard Mister Mikono say.

"Maybe so, but I want that boy!" She said as she rubbed her shin with her good leg. I could see the skirt part of the dress moving, which is how I knew she was rubbing her shin with her good leg.

"Missus Mikono, you heard what the boy said. He wants a family to take both him and Mokuba. If you two only want Seto, then you should leave. The boy's been through some rough times lately. Let him be. Have either of you ever had a goal before? Like something you wanted to do in life." The orphanage owner said to the couple.

Both Mikono's were silent until the wife spoke up.

"What's all this talk about goals for if that kid's gonna act like that? He's gonna be adopted by someone who treats him terribly if he keeps that up!" Missus Mikono said.

Things were really heating up now. My goal is to get adopted with both me and my little brother. I promised that, and I wasn't gonna back down! I'm gonna get us adopted, just you wait and see!

I tried to quiet down my breathing.

"You have no right to say that. Did you even see the way you were treating him? Seto's goal is to get him and his little brother adopted. Something tells me he'll make that happen. If you only want to adopt him, you'll might as well leave this place." The orphanage owner said.

"Fine. I guess a goal is a goal and that you're right, anyway. Let's go, Thomas!"

"Right behind you, Askuma."

I heard footsteps walk into the room and towards our bed.

The bed sheet was moved out of the way and I saw shoes at the bed I was hiding under. Then the shoes bent down, then knees and arms came, and soon enough I saw the face of the the orphanage owner.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded and crawled out from under my bed and Mokuba crawled out from under his. The orphanage owner stood up.

"Those people were crazy." I said.

"Yup!" Mokuba said.

"Well, at least you boys are all right." The orphanage owner said.

I nodded.

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome, Seto." He said with a smile.

I watched as the orphanage owner walked out of the room.

I swear I heard him mutter something about the Mikono's.

"Why are you sweating, Seto?" Mokuba asked suddenly.

"It was hot under there, Mokuba!"

Mokuba and I walked back out of the orphanage and back outside to the other kids.

The car drove out of the orphanage's driveway. Mokuba and I sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness they're gone!" Brandon said.

"Yeah, talk about crazy! Man...that was a close call." Mokuba agreed.

Brandon looked at him.

"I was scared of you two being taken away by them! I mean, they were just so determined to take Seto away to the point where it was kinda creepy. I know them, actually, but I never liked them. I don't wanna talk about it." Brandon said.

I nodded.

"Yes, Brandon, they were. It's fine if you don't wanna tell us about them. But I'm staying here until Mokuba and I both get adopted. Until I find that person who will adopt the both of us, we'll both stay here."

Brandon smiled.

"Ha ha!" Brandon laughed.

Brandon has black hair and green eyes. He usually wears a red t-shirt and black shorts. For shoes, they were white with black soles.

Mokuba smiled at him, but he looked confused. I was confused too. What did I say that was so funny?

"Ha ha! Ah, sorry. You must be wondering why I'm laughing, right? Well, don't worry. It's not a bad thing." Brandon said.

"So then what **_are_** you laughing at, Brandon?" I asked.

"It's just that you remind me of a shounen protagonist or something! I mean, you have a goal like most other shounen heroes do, and this goal is to get adopted with your little brother, right?" Brandon asked.

I nodded. Now I guess I could see where he was coming from.

"Yeah! Not only that, but I've seen you fight people before too, and that's in almost every shounen Anime. It's like you're a shounen hero or something! Ha ha, well, bye!" Brandon said, walking away.  
************  
Apples, drinks, and food of any kind were being thrown around the room.

Yes, a food fight had broken out into the "cafeteria", and it was almost over with. Mokuba and I were on Brandon's team.

The other team was on the other side of the room. He had most of the kids on his side laying down on the floor.

I dodged an apple that a girl had thrown at me by intercepting it with the breadstick I was holding. I then hit her on the side of the head with the breadstick.

I looked around and saw Brandon trying to fend off the leader of the other team. The other team leader held two breadsticks while Brandon only had one.

"HA HA! I'm wielding two breadsticks, Brandon! You wield only one! What makes you think you can defeat me?!" He said.

"I'll find a way!" Brandon said.

"Mokuba! Let's help him out!" I said as I looked over at my brother, who was holding his own breadstick. He nodded and grinned.

Mokuba and I rushed towards the two boys and hit the other boy on the side. He fell down.

"WE WON!" Brandon said, pumping his fists in the air.

"YEAH!" Said Mokuba.

Then a girl from the opposite team hit Brandon in the face with a pie.

"HA HA! Take that, Brandon!"

The pie slowly fell off his face.

"That doesn't count. Brandon's team already won." Said the leader of the opposite team.

The girl who had thrown a pie at Brandon's face sighed and walked out of the room.

"Well, I guess we should clean this up now." Brandon said as he looked around the room.

Mokuba and I nodded in agreement.  
***********  
My eyes opened wide.

I just had a dream about that crazy Mikono couple adopting me and leaving Mokuba behind. It was an insane dream, but luckily, I already don't remember much of it.

After today, I really wanted us to get adopted soon.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. I couldn't, but my goal popped into my head.

_"I'll make sure both __Mokuba__ and I get adopted! I promise it's gonna happen, __Mokuba__. All I need to do is wait for the opportunity."_

I closed my eyes as I grinned.

Yes, it was going to happen. I didn't know how or when, but all I knew is that someday, I'd make it happen.

In the present, I will tell you that the adoption did happen.

Actually, I made that happen.

Oh, don't you worry-you'll find out about that soon.

But for now, you'll have to wait.

I stopped typing on the computer and saved my work. I didn't want to remember Gozaburo's abuse, but I'll have to go over that if you want to know my past, right?

Someday, I'll get over that pathetic excuse for a Father's-well, Stepfather-abuse. But when? I don't know. With everything he did to me, can you blame me?

Not to mention I was young when he took me in, so of course his parenting would influence me somehow.

As for the rain?

It was still cloudy outside, but the rain has finally ceased.

Now let's get into the next memory.

_End __chapter_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Swimming

**Mokuba's POV**  
I was having a dream where I was just walking through grass outside somewhere. I looked different, though. I seemed taller and was wearing different clothes.

I was wearing a yellow jacket and a long sleeved, light and darker blue striped shirt. I was wearing dark blue jeans and black sneakers.

When I looked up, he materialized.

The boy that I had seen before in a different dream appeared in front of me. He had some type of green hair and strange clothing. His clothes were different from last time.

Well, I guess it was more like rich clothing than strange clothing.

He was older, too. About eighteen. He was wearing what looked like a standard high school male uniform, which was a dark blue color.

"Are you the same boy with green hair that's been showing up in all my dreams lately?" I asked. My voice sounded a bit different.

The boy didn't answer and continued to stare at me. But then he nodded.

"What's your name?" I asked.

The boy began to open his mouth, but then he stopped and disappeared. Vibrations surged their way through my body from the ground.

The ground beneath me opened. The side where the boy had stood separated from me. Both sides continued to shake and part ways.

_"Is it an earthquake?!" _I thought as I fell down, the shaking becoming more violent. A shadow covered me. When I looked up, a monster had risen up from the ground and was staring down at me.

Seven more monsters of the same monster flew up from the ground and appeared next to the monster on both sides.

I put a hand into my pocket. If this was a dream, I could win like last time.

There wasn't a card there. I put my hand in my left pocket. No card there, either.

I began to panic. If this was a dream, shouldn't I have a card with me? Where was it?

The monster looked like a black dragon. It looked metallic. It had red eyes.

I decided to call it a Red Eyes Black Dragon for now.

The Red Eyes Black Dragons closed around me. There was at least eight, maybe less.

"BLUE EYES, WHITE LIGHTNING ATTACK!" A familiar voice said.

Or so it seemed.

One of the dragons behind me disappeared. I ran out of the dragon circle and ran towards the silhouette running towards me. It was Seto, but he looked different.

Seto was older now. He looked around eighteen and was wearing a black, long sleeved shirt with two belts on both arms, and a white, gray studded trenchcoat with a magenta underside. He wore a green-or teal-belt with two gray studs on both sides.

He wore black pants, another pair of two blue belts, and black shoes.

And he wore what looked like a locket around his neck.

"Mokuba, are you okay!?" He asked.

I nodded.

The Red Eyes Black Dragons flew towards us. The seven remaining, at least.

Seto held out another card.

_"Two Blue Eyes!?"_

There were two Blue Eyes White Dragons in front of me now.

"Now, Blue Eyes, White Lightning Attack!" Seto said. Both Blue Eyes attacked Red Eyes with a beam from its mouths. Two Red Eyes were caught in each beam. The blast was so strong that they were defeated from the attack.

The four Red Eyes Black Dragons opened their mouths and a red and orange beam started forming. They shot their heads forward and launched the beam at both Blue Eyes, which was actually a fireball.

"Blue Eyes, don't take the attack!" Seto commanded. Both Blue Eyes White Dragons flew into the sky, missing the fireballs as the fireballs flew down at us. Seto grabbed me and ran away from the fireballs.

"Are you okay, Mokuba?" He asked.

"Yeah!" I said.

Seto turned to the four Red Eyes.

"Blue Eyes White Dragon, attack again!" He said. Both Blue Eyes flew down from the sky and reappeared in front of us.

One of them opened their mouth, forming another lighting beam and hitting a Red Eyes with it. The other Blue Eyes formed another beam in its mouth, but the Red Eyes dodged the attack.

The three remaining Red Eyes Black Dragons flew towards each other. There was a bright light. I shielded my eyes. When it faded, I looked up. The three dragons had fused together.

"Hey! That's no fair!" I said. I looked at Seto. He looked determined to win. But how? Did he have a plan?

The combined dragon opened its mouth. It launched a fireball-which was now a beam of fire-towards both Blue Eyes White dragons. Seto quickly pulled a card out from his pocket and held it in front of him.

"This is my trap card, Mirror Force!" He said. The Red Eyes' attack was directed to the Mirror Force, which formed over both Blue Eyes White Dragons. It was deflected back at the combined Red Eyes Black Dragon, but it flew away from the redirected attack.

Seto held another card forward. It was another Blue Eyes White Dragon! Just how many did he have?!

"I can fight the same way! Now I activate polymerization to fuse my Blue Eyes together to form BLUE EYES ULTIMATE DRAGON!"

The three Blue Eyes were pulled towards each other. There was another bright light. I shielded my eyes again. When it faded, I looked up once more. The three Blue Eyes White Dragons were now fused together, just like Red Eyes. But it looked a bit different.

I guess I'll call Red Eyes' new form Red Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

Red Eyes Ultimate Dragon formed another fire beam in its mouth and shot it at Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

"Fly up, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Seto said. It did as it was told. The fire beam from Red Eyes Ultimate Dragon nearly hit Seto and I, but luckily, we avoided it. It flew back down towards us.

"NOW FINISH IT OFF WITH A FINAL WHITE LIGHTNING ATTACK!" Seto commanded. The three heads of Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon formed three White Lightning beams in its mouth. It launched its attack at Red Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

The attack was so strong that a hole was shot through the Red Eyes Ultimate Dragon's body. It disappeared. So did Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

Seto turned to me.

"Wake up, Mokuba." He said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Wake up, little bro!"

Those vibrations started again, but gentler this time.

My eyes opened immediately. Seto was standing next to me.

"You're finally up!" He said.

It was the next morning. He looked excited about something. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I noticed kids were in the room with us, talking to each other.

"We're going to the pool today!" Seto said.

"We are?" I asked.

"Yeah, Mokie! Look around you!"

I looked around the room. Sure enough, Seto was right.

Boys were in swim trunks and girls were in swimsuits. The room was so full of brouhaha, but everyone had to find a way to entertain themselves until it was time to go to the pool.

I only wondered how I slept this late with all this talking going on around me. I guess I'm a heavy sleeper.

Brandon came up to us in red swim trunks and wearing a white t-shirt.

"Hey guys, the orphanage owner said we could go to Domino City's pool today! Get dressed and let's get going!" Brandon said, smiling bright.

"Okay." Seto said.

"Yeah, sure." I said.

Brandon walked away.

"See ya soon!"

We waved as Brandon walked out of the room.

Seto reached into his orange backpack.

He pulled out blue swim trunks and a white t-shirt. Seto disappeared from the room and came back, wearing that white t-shirt and blue swim trunks. He walked over to me.

"I thought we might go swimming at some point in our life, so I packed swimwear for me in case if we did. What about you, Mokie?"

I was pretty sure that I packed swimwear for me, so I nodded and reached into my backpack. I pulled out dark green swim trunks and a black shirt. I walked out of the room with them and I walked down the hall to the boys bathroom. I walked in, closed the door, and locked it.

When I finished, I unlocked the bathroom door, walked back down the hall towards the bedroom, and saw Seto standing there. He smiled when he saw me and walked up to me.

"Ready?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yup!" I replied.

Seto turned around and started walking away. I ran after him and we met Brandon outside.

"Ready to go?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah." Seto said, nodding. So Brandon turned around and started walking.

Seto and I had never seen Domino City's pool before, so we followed Brandon. We had a conversation on the way.

"So, why did you two arrive at the orphanage?" Brandon asked.

"Our parents died." Seto replied quickly.

"Ah...okay. You're not the only ones who has dead parents." Brandon said.

"We're not?" I asked.

Brandon looked over at me with a sad smile.

"Yup! My parents died too."

"And how did they die?" Seto asked. Brandon tipped his head up to the sky.

"My Dad divorced my Mom a while ago when they began fighting. When I was sent to live with my Mom for a week, her house was absolutely silent. No one was there. As it turns out, someone broke into her house and captured my Mom. Some social workers drove me back to my Dad's house, and he was missing, just like my Mom. I saw a window had been broken, and it looked like someone had broken into his house as well."

"Then what happened?" I asked.

"I was taken to this orphanage. A few months later, my Dad's body was found in a lake, all deteriorated and watery." Brandon said, tilting his head from the sky and looking back at us.

Seto's expression saddened when we heard this. We both lowered our heads down and continued walking.

"Sorry about your parents, Brandon." Seto replied.

"Nah, it's okay. So your parents died too, right? How did they die?" He asked.

"Well...we don't really wanna talk about it." Seto replied.

"Yeah, I guess that's fair. So now what?" Brandon asked.

Seto and I didn't reply, but Seto held his head up and continued walking.

About a minute later we had arrived at a gate that led to the pool.

"Look! There it is!" Brandon said, pointing inside the gate. Seto and I looked inside. Brandon was pointing to a pretty big pool. Brandon started opening the gate. We walked in after he had finished.

"And the best part is that we're here early!" Brandon said, smiling and looking around. Then he took his shirt off and threw it on the ground.

"YAHOO!" He cannon balled into the pool.

"AH! Cold!" Brandon said, popping up onto the water's surface. Then he waved to us.

"Jump in! You'll love it!"

Seto took his shirt off. Then he walked over to the deep end of the pool and dived into it.

"Seto jumped in, huh? Um...it might be too cold for me, so I'll enter in by the steps over here." I said.

I took my shirt off, put it with Seto and Brandon's shirts, placed them where we could find them, and then I began to walk towards the pool steps which could serve as an entrance or exit.

Seto got out of the pool and ran over to me.

"The water's cold, but it's still fun to swim in! C'mon, Mokie! It'll be great!" Then Seto disappeared into the boys bathroom.

I nodded. I stepped onto the pool's steps and looked over to see Brandon peering over at something from behind a fence. I swam towards him.

"What're you lookin' at, Brandon?" I asked.

"The girls in the girl's pool." Brandon said.

"Oh, okay." I said.

While swimming away, I managed to see a few girls dancing around on the other side in swimsuits.

I started to swim away when I looked over and saw three boys get into the pool. They noticed me, grinned, and swam over to me.

"You didn't jump in? We'll help with that." The one who I thought their leader would be said.

I didn't want their help, and I was sure they wouldn't "help" me, so I started swimming away from them. They swam after me.

I swam all the way towards the deep end.

"HEY!" I heard a shout. But it wasn't Seto. It was Brandon. I heard a splash of water.

Brandon swam between me and the bullies and stuck his arms out as if protecting me.

"Leave Mokuba alone. He gets bullied all the time at the orphanage. Just give him a day off, okay?" Brandon said to them. The bullies looked confused, but then they grinned.

"Or maybe you won't be safe." The leader said. Brandon started backing up.

I took this as my opportunity to get out of the pool. I climbed up the ladder, walked over to the bench where our shirts and towels were, sat down, and I watched the fight unfold.

Seto walked out of the bathroom and sat down next to me. He asked me what was happening. I told him Brandon had gotten himself involved in a fight to protect me. Seto understood and watched the fight unfold as well.

Brandon punched one bully away. The bully floated back a bit in the water.

Brandon tried to take care of the rest of them, too. He pushed one away from him, kicked another bully in the leg, and punched another one in the shoulder. He started swimming away from them, but these bullies didn't give up.

The bullies swam closer to him. Brandon tried to punch one, but this time, the bully dodged the attack. He raised a fist and tried to punch Brandon, but Brandon quickly ducked underneath the water, making the bully punch his friend instead.

The bully who accidentally got his face punched started a fight with the bully who punched him.

"Hey! What are you doing!? Don't fight each other! Fight that black haired kid!" The leader said.

"Hey, where is he?" The bullies who started a fight said. They stopped and looked around.

Brandon's head emerged next to them, but he was closer to the ladder by now.

"There he is! Get him!"

The bullies noticed him and swam towards him. Brandon tried to punch and kick one away. The bully he comboed with a punch and a kick floated away from him.

Brandon swam near the ladder, but the bullies kept swimming towards him.

Brandon turned around while gripping the ladder and punched one bully. He started climbing up the ladder and kicked one in the face. He stepped onto the pool grounds and walked over to us. He started drying himself off with his towel.

The bullies got out of the pool shortly after.

Seto glared at the boys as they walked out of the area.

"Those boys are nothing but pathetic cowards with no life! First Mokuba, and then Brandon!" Seto said.

One bully walked back over in our direction and glared at Seto.

"What are you gonna do about it? Are you gonna fight me?" He asked. Seto stood up and glared at him.

"Maybe I will." He said. But he did nothing. The bully scoffed and started walking away with his friends.

Seto grabbed a towel, walked behind the one who mocked him, and whipped his back with the towel. The boy felt it and turned around. I could see the anger on his face from where I was sitting.

"Why you..." The boy started. He raised a fist to punch Seto.

But whatever was about to happen was stopped by Brandon.

"Seto, stop!" Brandon said.

Both boys looked at Brandon.

"Let's just go. No need to turn this little fight into an all out brawl." He said, glaring at the boys as they glared at Seto.

The bullies started walking out of the pool area.

"This isn't over." I heard him say as he watched them walk out. I could see one of the bullies roll his eyes.

I didn't say anything and quietly grabbed my towel and wrapped it around me.

Seto and Brandon wrapped their towels around themselves too.

"Do we have everything?" Brandon asked.

Seto and I looked around the pool one last time. We didn't see anything of ours laying around. We turned around to Brandon. We nodded.

"Okay then, got it. Let's go." Brandon said.

We walked out of the pool room and began walking back to the orphanage, keeping our towels wrapped around our cold bodies.

But in the distance, Brandon saw a parked car that Seto and Mokuba never saw.

_End chapter_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Back To The Orphanage

"Well, guys, that's what happens here at this orphanage sometimes." Brandon said. I looked at him.

"Sometimes these bullies come up and bother us for no reason. I mean, it's like we'd be takin' a walk, and then, BLAM! Before you know it, someone comes up to you and punches ya in the face! It happened to me once." Brandon continued, punching his left hand. He looked at us.

"That stinks." I said, still looking at him.

Brandon looked down at me and nodded.

"Yup, it does, Mokuba. Hey, but at least Seto and I know how to fight!" Brandon said, smiling at me.

I smiled and nodded.

"I guess those kinds of people do that just because we're smaller than them, but who knows? Anyway, is this orphanage fun?" Seto asked. I awaited Brandon's response.

"It can be. Honestly, I guess it's just the kind of thing that you hafta have fun with on your own." Brandon replied with a shrug.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes. And..." Brandon stopped walking. Then, without warning, he walked in front of me and Seto and blocked our way.

"This orphanage really stinks sometimes."

Seto and I nodded. We could see that for sure.

"Hey Brandon, that was nice of you to stick up for me like that." I said. Brandon smiled at me.

"Oh, sure, Mokuba! Anytime! I knew Seto wasn't in the pool because I didn't see him in there, but I figured he could use a break. And besides, I'm your friend, right, guys?" Brandon asked us.

Seto and I nodded. Brandon nodded and grinned.

"Exactly! Since Seto's constantly sticking up for you, I figured I could be the one to fill in for him this time." Brandon said.

Seto smiled.

"Well, thanks anyway, Brandon." He said.

Brandon just smiled at him.  
*************  
Brandon, Seto, and I got back to the orphanage.

Once we were back, I noticed Brandon wasn't anywhere to be seen.

He ran up to us after a minute from around the corner.

"Brandon? What's wrong?" I asked. Seto turned around.

"Oh nothin', just taking care of something! But one more thing..."

Brandon grinned and cracked his knuckles.

"Seto, let's fight!"

Seto just stood there.

"Huh? Why?" He asked.

"I wanna see how strong you are! Come on, Seto, let's go! Don't worry, we'll fight as friends!" Brandon said as he walked closer to Seto.

"Um...what about me?" I asked.

"You'll be the referee." Brandon said.

"Got it!" I said. I backed up and stood between the two boys, keeping my distance from them.

"A fight of friendship will begin between Brandon and Seto! Ready?" I asked.

"Ready!" The two said in unison.

"Fight!" I said.

Brandon took the first move. He ran at Seto and tried to punch him. Seto dodged it. Next, Brandon swung both arms at Seto, but Seto ducked and pushed him down.

Next, Seto ran at Brandon. Brandon stood up immediately and dodged it, causing Seto to fall forwards but he stopped himself and turned around, only to be greeted with a punch-somewhat soft-to his stomach.

_"__Come __on__, __big __bro__!" _I thought, desperately wanting my brother to win.

He finally fought back, even though that was what he was doing. Or trying to.

Seto punched Brandon's stomach and Brandon fell forward, but dragged down Seto with him.

Next, they both stood up. Both boys balled their hands into fists and punched each other so hard that they both fell to the ground.

Then they both started laughing.

"Good fight!" Brandon said.

I walked over to them.

"Tie!" I said. They both stood up and Seto smiled.

"Good job, little bro!"

I chuckled.

"You too, big bro!"

But before we knew it, it was already time for bed.

"'Night, guys." Brandon said, getting in bed.

"Good night, Brandon." Seto said.

"'Night, Brandon. 'Night, Seto." I said. I rolled over in my bed and shut my eyes.

And then, it was lights out.

We were all soon asleep.  
**IN MOKUBA'S DREAM**  
It was a flashback to what happened earlier today.

"This isn't over!" Seto said as the bullies walked out of the area.

I woke up. I turned my head towards my brother.

"Seto?" I whispered, but loud enough that he could hear me.

No response.

"Big bro?" I whispered again.

No response.

I turned my head away from my brother, closed my eyes, and went to sleep.  
*************  
"You're finally awake." A voice said.

I turned to the voice and realized it was Seto, who was sitting down on his bed.

I sat up after I realized it was him and rubbed my eyes.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"It's eleven twenty four, Mokie."

"Wait...really?"

Seto nodded.

"So why are you smiling like that, big brother?" I asked.

"I'll tell you, Mokie."

He told me what happened.  
**Seto's POV  
**Earlier in the morning, I woke up around ten and couldn't go back to sleep. I decided to get dressed.

"I'll go for a walk." I said.

I walked out of the bedroom and the orphanage owner saw me.

"Seto, where are you going?"

"I was just gonna go on a walk."

"Oh. I see. Well, see you later."

I nodded and walked out of the orphanage.

After I was walking around for a while, I turned back around to go back to the orphanage. I stopped when I noticed three boys who looked very familiar.

"Hey, I know you. You're that brown haired boy from yesterday who was at the pool claimed that the fight we had wasn't over. You don't seem very strong. How's that wimpy little brother of yours that we were picking on before your friend interrupted the fight?" The leader asked.

"My little brother's not wimpy!" I shouted at them.

"Oh really? What would he do if I gave him a punch to the face? Would he just take it?"

"If you do so much as even try to lay a hand on my little brother, I'll make sure you pay!" I said.

"Ha! Bring it on, shrimp!" The leader said. Looks like he didn't know what I was capable of.

_"I don't think I'll be a "shrimp" when I get older, and I'm stronger than you think!"_ I thought as I charged at them.

It resulted in a headbutt right in his stomach.

Startled, he staggered back and fell to the floor. One of his friends tried attacking me. He managed to grab me, but I bit his hand.

He shook his hand and stared at me in anger. I kicked him in the shin before he could attack me.

He didn't bother me after that.

As for his other friend, I turned to him.

He immediately tried to punch me. I managed to dodge it and I went up behind him.

"Turn around." I said.

He did, and I kicked him in the gut, making him fall to the ground just like his friend.

Now it was just the leader who was last.

I gave him another headbutt in the stomach and punched him in the stomach as well. He stepped backwards but was still standing.

"My turn!" He said.

He tried to punch me. I blocked it, but he kicked me.

Now I was the one who fell to the floor. He loomed over me.

"Guess who's on the floor now? Not my friends, that's for sure." He said. He leaned down.

_"Not yet...wait..."_ I thought.

What was I waiting for? I was waiting for the right chance to attack him.

He leaned farther over me.

Closer.

Closer.

_"Now!"_

I quickly rolled over onto my back, and, using both feet, I kicked him in the stomach. I kicked him so hard that he fell backward and onto the floor. I quickly stood up.

"That's it. I've had enough! We're out of here!" He said, getting up quickly and running away. His friends got up and ran after him.

I crossed my arms and grinned.

"Don't call my little brother a wimp and don't call me a shrimp ever again!" I said.

After my little victory, I walked back into the orphanage.

"Seto, you don't look very good. Did you get in a fight?" The orphanage owner asked once he noticed me. I shook my head, trying not to worry him.

"No. I'm fine." I said.

The orphanage owner gave me a look of concern, but he walked away without questioning me.

I walked back into the bedroom. I noticed Mokuba.

_"He's still not up?"_ I thought as I looked down at him.  
**Mokuba's POV**  
In the present, I walked into his office in our mansion. In Seto's office, I mean.

I wanted to ask him a question.

Once next to him, I said:

"Seto, will you smile again?"

My brother didn't look at me as he inspected his old Duel Disk. The circular ones used in Duelist Kingdom.

"I don't know, Mokuba." He said, not giving me a glance.

"Why?" I asked.

Seto didn't reply.

"Big bro?"

Seto turned to look at me.

"Not now, Mokuba." He said.

With that said, he turned back to his old Duel Disk.

Getting the picture, I just nodded silently and walked out, wondering if he would smile again.

Once out, I noticed Noah was outside the room.

"Hey, Noah. What're ya doing?" I asked.

"I was just looking for you, Mokuba. Why don't we finish the game we were playing earlier?" He asked.

"Oh, sure! Beat ya to it!" I said as I began running away.

I never knew the future would change Seto as much as it did.

_End __chapter_


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Hide and Seek (Part 1)

**Seto's POV**  
I was older again.

That's right. It was another dream.

I was just standing in a gray room wearing what looked like long, white trenchcoat. Mokuba walked in a few seconds later while wearing a puffy yellow vest and a dark and light blue striped t-shirt.

"Seto, let's duel!" He said.

"Alright, Mokuba. Let's see how good you are." I said.

As soon as I said that, something appeared on our arms. It was some type of machine that had our decks in it, so I guess I'll call it a Duel Disk for now.

"I'll go first! I summon Man Eating Plant in defense mode and end my turn!" Mokuba said, summoning his monster to the field.

"I summon Battle Ox in attack mode and I attack your Man Eating Plant!" I said, summoning my monster. It attacked Man Eating Plant.

"Not bad. Okay, I summon Krokodilus in attack mode! Now I'll place a card face-down and end my turn." Mokuba said.

"Attack mode? That wasn't a very smart move, Mokuba. Now meet ENRAGED Battle Ox!" I said, summoning Enraged Battle Ox in attack mode.

"Now, Battle Ox! Attack Mokuba's monster!"

Battle Ox was about to attack it, but before it did, Mokuba grinned.

"I don't think so, big bro! Now I reveal my face-down card! It protects my Krokodilus from your attack!" Mokuba said, revealing his face-down card. It disappeared immediately after so I never saw what it was.

"Very clever, Mokuba. I end my turn." I said.

"Thanks, Seto! Now I place a card face-down and end my turn." Mokuba said.

"I think you're stalling, Mokuba. I sacrifice my Battle Ox and Enraged Battle Ox to summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon!" I said, placing my powerful dragon on my device.

"I'll end my turn, Mokuba." I said.

"Thanks, Seto! Now I'll reveal my face-down card, which is Sacrifice! It allows me to summon one of my monsters to summon a stronger one! I choose Krokodilus to summon Rude Kaiser!"

Mokuba's Krokodilus disappeared and was replaced by Rude Kaiser.

But then it went into defense mode.

"Now I end my turn." Mokuba said.

I swiped a card from my Duel Disk.

"I summon Axe Raider in attack mode! Now Blue Eyes, attack his Rude Kaiser!"

My dragon opened its mouth as it started forming a white, electrical beam in its mouth. It launched the attack at Rude Kaiser, but due to being in defense mode, Mokuba lost no life points.

"Now attack his life points directly, Axe Raider!" I said.

Axe Raider rushed at Mokuba and attacked him directly, forcing him to drop to 2300 life points.

"I end my turn." I said.

"I summon Small Beetle in defense mode!" Mokuba said.

I knew I was going to win at this point, so I didn't bother to draw another monster.

"Axe Raider, attack his Small Beetle!"

Once again, Mokuba was attacked, but nothing happened due to being in defense mode.

"Now, Blue Eyes, attack his life points directly!"

Blue Eyes launched its attack at Mokuba, causing him to lose the duel. Once he lost, everything we had faded away from the room.

I walked over to him laid a hand on his shoulder, a smile crossing onto my face.

"You did great, Mokuba."

And then the dream changed.

In this next half of the dream, I was somewhere in a...room? I don't know where it was or what I was even in. I was still older.

Now I was running somewhere. It looked like I was running through a secure place.

I threw my briefcase at a security camera, knocking it out.

_"__It's__like__I'm__ trapped!"_

I grabbed my briefcase and started running. One of the security cameras shot a laser at me. I dodged it, summoned a Blue Eyes White Dragon, ordered a white lightning attack, and took it out.

"Now, Blue Eyes, attack that other camera!"

My Blue Eyes took out the other camera with another powerful while lightning attack, causing a small explosion of fire.

When that finished, I ran to the door in front of me and banged my fists on it.

"I know you're in there. I'll get you to stop what you're doing, Stepfather! I worked hard for this, and now you take it away from me?!"

"Please, Seto. I'll never let you take over KaibaCorp. That belongs to my real son. You're smart, but you still have so much to learn." Said a voice behind the doors.

"I don't think so! I've learned everything I had to learn to take over this company!"

"Guards, take Seto away. This is a private place." That voice said.

The doors opened. Two men appeared from behind the doors. They grabbed my arms and tried to drag me away from the doors.

"No! I need to talk to him!" I said.

"You heard Mister Kaiba. This place is private. Why do you think there were security cameras everywhere? Leave." One of the men in a red suit said.

"He needs to talk to the big five in there." The other one in a black suit said.

I started laughing.

"Then I'll blow the place up." I said calmly.

"Evacuate the building now!" The red suited man said. Using my Blue Eyes, I blew a hole into the roof and flew out.

I looked around, trying to get revenge on my Stepfather. I noticed a trail of goop near the front of the building.

"White lightning on that goop, Blue Eyes!" I said.

Blue Eyes launched its signature attack at the goop. This caused the building to blow up into flames.

In confusion, I bolted up in bed. I looked over to see Mokuba was staring at me from his bed. I was still a kid. I yawned.

"Mornin', Mokuba." I said.

"Mornin', Seto. Why'd you wake up like that?" He asked.

"Oh, just a weird dream." I said.

Mokuba nodded and got out his bed. He walked out of the bedroom. After a few minutes, he came back into the bedroom, wearing casual clothes. It was the clothes we wore when we first arrived at the orphanage. He was holding his night time clothes.

He laid his night time clothes on his bed.

I was already awake, so I just decided to start my day.

I got a change of clothes, which was a black collared shirt that I kept open, a gray t-shirt, black pants, and the shoes I normally wore. I walked into the bathroom and got changed. I heard footsteps outside of the bathroom.

After I finished, I opened the door and walked out of the bathroom. I looked to my side. Mokuba was there, staring up at me. He had been waiting for me.

Still holding my clothes from last night, I walked back into the bedroom and laid my night clothes on my bed.

After that, we walked out of the bedroom, closed the door behind us, and then I walked into the playroom while Mokuba followed me.

"Now just settle down, everybody! Let's vote!" Brandon said.

He was standing on a stool in front of a whiteboard. He reached for a cup. I noticed some red, black, green, and blue markers inside. When he saw me and Mokuba walk in, he smiled at us.

"Hey, you two! We're about to play a game, but we can't decide which game to pick. Wanna help us all pick one out for today?" He said with that smile still on his face.

"Sure!" Mokuba said, smiling back at him. He walked farther into the room. I followed Mokuba to where he was walking to.

Mokuba sat down in a chair while I pulled a different chair up next to him and sat down in it.

_"Voting, huh? This should be interesting." _I thought.

Brandon had some game ideas on the whiteboard. One was staying inside all day. In all honesty, that didn't sound too bad to me. It was actually pretty hot outside.

Another idea was going to the pool. Yes, again. I shuddered. Guess the other kids had too much fun yesterday since that was an idea.

No way were we going back there! Not after what happened to Mokuba.

I mean...after all, we _DID_ just go there yesterday. Should we really go to the same place twice?

Another idea was playing kickball or hide and seek. These two were the last ideas on the board.

Hide and seek!? I haven't played that in a long time! That sounds good to me!

"Okay! Idea number one! We stay inside and play all day." Brandon shouted, pointing to the board with a pencil from the cup. Only two kids raised their hands.

"Okay then, idea number two! We go to the pool." Brandon said.

Five kids raised their hands. This idea better not win!

"Idea number three! We play kickball!"

Six kids raised their hands.

"And lastly, who's up for some hide and seek?" Brandon asked.

Twelve kids raised their hands, including Mokuba and me. So my little brother wanted to play as well, eh?

Alright then!

After Brandon counted the votes, he announced to us that hide and seek had won.

"Okay then! We're gonna play hide and seek today! I also heard that there's gonna be a TV installed today, anyway. We gotta find a way to occupy ourselves and not distract the workers by being in the room." Brandon said.

He got down from the stool he used to point at game ideas from the board and ran outside. The other kids followed him.

"C'mon, Seto!" Mokuba said, waving at me from the doorway.

"In a minute!" I called to him. Mokuba just nodded and ran outside.

"Oops! Almost forgot!" Brandon ran back inside and put the pencil back in the cup, and then ran back outside.

_"__Does this place have at least one flashlight? Ah, there's one!"_ I thought to myself. I saw a flashlight on the counter and grabbed it. It was small, but it should do. I put it in my pants pocket.

Maybe the kids wouldn't notice something bulging through my pants pocket. They might have gotten curious as to where I was hiding if they saw it.

Maybe they would even follow me to wherever it would be that I was hiding at.

You see, when I played hide and seek with Mokuba back home when our parents were still alive, I always tried to find good hiding places. But for some reason, those hiding places always seemed to be in dark places.

So if I found a dark place to hide in today, like a cave or something, at least I'll be holding something to get me out! That's why I have this flashlight in my pants pocket.

I treaded through the room and was soon outside. Brandon saw me and started counting.

"One...two...three..." Brandon turned to a tree, covered his eyes, and started counting. The other orphanage kids started scrambling for good hiding places.

"Four...five...six..."

I saw Mokuba climb into a tree. The leaves covered him until I couldn't see him anymore.

"Seven...eight..."

_"__Why am I still standing here?!" _I thought.

_"I__'d better find a hiding place, and quick!"_

Brandon was a pretty fast counter.

While I was running, I saw a cave and ran into it.

"_I'm sure I'll be safe here, at least for a while." _I thought while walking into the cave. I turned my flashlight on and looked into the cave. My right foot took the lead into the cave.

I walked further and further into the cave and became colder and colder by the minute. I shuddered.

I rubbed my arms against my shirt sleeves, trying to keep myself at least a little warm. I guess it was getting colder since I was walking farther away from the sunlight when I walked farther into the cave.

Or it could just be me. I turned my flashlight off after a while.

I blinked as I tried to get adjusted to the darkness. Once I got adjusted to the darkness, I began walking further into the cave again. I still held onto my flashlight.

When I thought I would be well out of sight, I sat down against the wall in the cave and put my flashlight in my pocket, being so careful as to not make a sound.

I thought I was alone, but I wasn't.

I didn't realize there was someone else next to me when I sat down.

It was then when I heard an unfamiliar voice next to me:

"Are you good at hide and seek too?"

I completely froze.

_End chapter_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Hide and Seek (Part 2)

I froze. I continued to sit there. I didn't really know what to do.

Honestly, due to the scare, I did want to punch this person, but I didn't. They didn't sound mean at all.

"Hey, did you hear me? Are you good at hide and seek too?" The voice repeated. I heard a rustle and a slight rush of wind next to me.

The voice didn't belong to any kid from the orphanage. It didn't sound familiar at all.

"Yeah, I am. Who...who are you?" I stammered, trying to find the right words for this conversation.

I clicked on my flashlight. There was no one next to me. I blinked.

"HUH?! What in the world...?!" I moved my flashlight in front of me. I noticed two sneakers in the beam that belonged to a pair of legs and blue jeans. I moved the flashlight upwards so I could see the boy.

"HEY! Why do you keep moving around?!" I shouted at him, as this boy was now in front of my flashlight beam.

"Ssshh! Keep your voice down! They'll find us!" The boy said, putting a finger to his lips.

_"They'll find us? Does he go to the orphanage? I've never noticed him in there before, but then again, I haven't really looked around at any of the other children except for __Mokuba__, Brandon, and then there's the orphanage owner, but he's not a child."_ I thought.

I moved the flashlight beam up so I could see his face.

The boy was shorter than me. He had pale skin, like me, and big, purple eyes. He had his hair divided into three colors: there were blonde bangs that were wildly thrown around with a bang/big strand of hair in his face from the forehead, and the back of his hair was all spiked up.

It was black with some magenta on top, mainly on the tip of his spikes.

_"Wow, that's a weird hairstyle."_ I thought.

Well, it was! It was really unusual. Maybe he spikes it up like that with hair gel.

Or not. You never know. It could be natural.

And if it is, how did it even get like that in the first place?

The boy wore a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans. He wore black sneakers with white soles.

I realized this kid was the same one from my dream, but his hairstyle seemed even crazier looking than it was in the dream. Then again, I don't really remember what his hairstyle in my dream looked like. I kinda forgot about it shortly after I woke up, which was weird since it seemed like one of those "I will remember this dream forever" kind of dream.

"Oh yeah! I never introduced myself, did I? My name's Yugi! What's yours?" Yugi asked while sticking out his hand.

Not standing up from sitting in my spot, I stuck my hand out and shook Yugi's hand firmly.

"My name's Seto." I said.

"Hey there, Seto!" Yugi said with a smile. He sure did seem to be a friendly person.

Once we shook hands and exchanged names, we released our hands from the handshake. Yugi sat back down next to me on the cave's cold floor.

"So...do you live at the orphanage? Earlier you said "they'll find us" and I'm playing a game of hide and seek with the orphanage children right now." I said.

"No, I don't live at the orphanage. I'm playing with my friends. I guess this was just an interesting coincidence. Hey, do you like playing _Duel Monsters_?" Yugi asked. I nodded.

"Yeah, but my deck is at the orphanage, and they also aren't the best cards." I replied with a shrug.

"Oh, really? This is my favorite card!" Yugi said as he pulled something out of his jeans pocket.

"It's called The Dark Magician! There's another card I have, called The Dark Magician Girl, but I haven't used her in a duel yet." Yugi said.

"Oh! The Dark Magician Girl!? But isn't she the only female Magician and extremely rare?!" I asked.

Yugi nodded.

"Yup!" He said.

We continued talking to each other for a while, mainly about _Duel Monsters_. Soon, before we knew it, we heard voices. Yugi sat back down next to me. Now he was back in his original hiding place.

"He's gotta be somewhere around here! Let's check and make sure." A girl's voice said.

"He couldn't have gone far!" A boy's voice said.

"Maybe he's in here?" I heard an interrogating female voice say that. She sounded younger than the other voices I was hearing, so I'm guessing she might be around five or up.

_"Whoever said that is probably pointing her finger into this cave right now." _I thought.

Then, I heard footsteps come into the cave. They came closer to Yugi and I with each step.

Closer.

Closer.

And then, so close that those voices from earlier were in front of me.

I clicked on my flashlight and pointed it up at the party of four people.

"Found him! And some other dude." A boy with dirty blonde hair said.

"Ha ha! You got me, guys!" Yugi rose up from his hiding spot, smiling at his friends. Then he pointed down at me.

"This is Seto. He sat next to me during the game. This was his hiding spot." Yugi said.

"Hey there, I'm Tristan Taylor!" A boy with light tanned skin and dark and light brown hair said. Tristan's hair was spiked up in some kind of mohawk-like hairstyle and Tristan had brown eyes and wore a black t-shirt with gray shorts. He wore black sneakers and white socks.

"Hi! I'm Téa Gardner." Said the girl next to him.

Téa had short hair in a bob that was close to her shoulders. Her hair seemed to be a layered bob, as the front of her hair seemed darker than the other part, as did the bangs.

Téa also had blue eyes, like me. She wore a white, sleeveless t-shirt and a navy blue skirt with black shorts underneath. She wore blue sneakers and white socks. Her hair was brown.

Yugi, Tristan, and Téa turned their heads and looked at the other two next to them. I did the same.

The boy with dirty blonde hair was holding the little girl's hand. I knew right away that they were brother and sister.

"Hhmm?" The dirty blonde haired boy, who was the older brother, looked at them.

"_He's not very bright, is he?" _I thought.

"Oh yeah!" The boy looked away from his friends and he looked down at me.

"The name's Joey Wheeler! And dis is my little sister Serenity!"

Serenity looked down at me.

"Hello." She said with a smile.

Serenity had short light brown hair in a bob-or so it looked like-and brown eyes.

Her hair was almost an auburn color. Her bang style was a bit weird, like Yugi's, but different. She had three bangs in the front. Serenity wore a pink top with red buttons, a pink skirt, red mary janes, and white socks.

Getting back to Joey, he had dirty blonde hair and brown eyes.

His bangs were pretty long, almost practically in his eyes. Joey wore a white t-shirt, green shorts, blue sneakers with white soles, and white socks. He also wore what appeared to be a dog tag.

"We're all ten, but Serenity's seven." Yugi said.

I nodded.

"I'm twelve and my little brother, Mokuba, is seven."

Joey grinned.

"You have a sibling younger than you, too? Same here!" He said as he pointed at Serenity.

I nodded.

"Oh, and Joey's real name isn't Joey. That's just a nickname." Tristan said as he looked at Joey.

"Tristan, don't go aroun' tellin' people my real name!"

Téa sighed as she looked at Tristan and Joey, but then she smiled at me.

"Well, we should get going. It was nice meeting you!" Téa said.

"Same goes to you guys." I replied.

"Bye, Seto!" Yugi said.

"Smell ya later!" Joey said as he turned around. Yugi and his friends all walked out of the cave after that. I watched them all leave my sight.

Soon it was just me and the flashlight again, alone in the cave, with nothing but my thoughts again. Their footsteps could no longer be heard.

"_Friends..."_ I thought.

"_I don't need friends, do I? Only __Mokuba__ and Brandon are my friends now."_

I sat there against the cave wall remembering the things that happened. Then I remembered that we were playing hide and seek.

"Has no one found me yet?" I muttered. I sighed. I didn't think it would take this long.

It had probably been about six minutes since Yugi and his friends had left the cave. I began wondering if I should just continue sitting there until I was found or if I should get up and walk out of the cave so I wouldn't worry anyone.

I was about to get up to walk out of the cave until I heard pounding footsteps come towards me.

_"Is it __Yugi__ and his friends? I don't think they forgot anything."_

I was wrong.

"Gotcha, big brother!" Said a familiar voice that I knew very well. It was Mokuba who was running towards me. He bent down and hugged me. Brandon was also behind him.

"That was some hiding place, Seto! I don't think I'd ever think of a cave to be my hiding place, especially since they get colder the more you walk into them. Well, at least that was the case with this cave." Brandon said, grinning at me.

Mokuba got off me. I stood up.

"Thanks, Brandon." I said.

I got up from sitting in my spot. Brandon, Mokuba, and I walked out of the cave.

The kids walked over to me. They all began talking to me.

"So that's where you were?"

"We were wondering where you were. Some of us were gonna try to find you."

"I'm just glad you're okay."

"Okay, okay, just stop, guys!" Brandon said, stepping between me and the other kids.

"Hey! Let's play something else." Brandon said as he looked at all the other kids.

"Like what?" One kid asked.

"Maybe we could play kickball." Brandon said.

"Sure!"

"Fine with me!"

Brandon looked at the other kids and they nodded in agreement. Brandon turned to me and Mokuba.

"You guys wanna play kickball?"

Mokuba nodded. So did I.

"I don't see why not. Sounds like fun. Let's play!" I said.

We got our teams picked. I was on a team with Mokuba. We got into positions and started to play.

But once we started, we heard grunting near the top of the hill.

I walked over the hill to see what it was and saw two boys hitting each other with baseball bats.

Mokuba and Brandon followed me, but hid behind a shady tree to watch as I just stood there out in the open.

"Take that!" A boy wearing a green shirt said as he hit a boy wearing a black shirt with a baseball bat.

The boy wearing the black shirt grunted as he took the attack, and when about to be attacked again, hit the other boy with his bat right on the side.

Finally, I had enough and walked over to them. Baseball bats are used for baseball, not whatever these two are doing!

The boy in green hit the boy in black right in the shoulder. Then, as they raised their bats up, I took them away.

"This is our fight! Butt out!" The boy in green said.

I gave them both a glare. They became scared and looked at each other.

"No. Baseball bats are used for baseball, not attacking other kids." I said coldly as I walked away, still holding onto the baseball bats.  
************  
We were all back in the orphanage.

The lights were out. Everyone had all laid down in their beds and had their sheets pulled over them. They were all asleep, but I wasn't.

After a while, I finally started to feel drowsy. As I closed my eyes, I thought of those kids I had met. Yugi, Téa, Tristan, Joey, and Serenity.

In the present, I looked over at my briefcase that's normally next to me leaning against my desk. I rolled my chair over to it, picked it up, and put it on a free space on my desk.

I opened it and looked inside. Inside the briefcase were cards I'd use in a duel.

As you already know, Yugi became my rival who I'm constantly trying to beat. Joey could try to beat me, but let's face it-I don't think that's gonna happen any time soon.

As for Téa and Tristan...they don't duel much at all. They're basically useless when it comes to the dueling world.

I looked into my briefcase and noticed one of my Blue Eyes White Dragon cards. I pulled it out and tried to look for the other two while I was at it.

And I found them.

Holding all three of them, I put them back in my briefcase.

"We'll beat Yugi someday. Just not today." I muttered.

"Seto?" Someone said. I closed the briefcase to see who it was.

Mokuba.

"What're you doing?" He asked.

I put my briefcase back on the side of my desk. I continued typing on my computer.

"Nothing, Mokuba. Just my work." I responded. Mokuba gave me a weird look but still walked out of the room.

Enough of that. You know what comes next.

_End __chapter_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Dinner From A Different Perspective

**Noah's POV**  
Hello there. My name is Noah.

Well, it's really Noah Kaiba.

I have blue eyes, mint green hair, and teal bangs. My skin is kinda tan, but not immensely tan.

Yes, I know. The way my hair looks is weird. Well, I guess my hair is just weird all around, and not just the bangs.

But hey, I get it from my Mother! At least as far as I know I get my appearance from my Mother.

I'm pretty smart for a twelve year old, and my normal outfit usually consists of a long sleeved white shirt with lavender linings and white shorts. I usually wear navy blue socks and brown dress shoes. In looks I look more like my Mom, and I'm more like my Mother than my Father in personality.

I know it might be weird how I'm more like my Mother in appearance and personality, but in my opinion, I really think it's good that I'm more like my Mother than my Father.

Why?

Well, if you were me, you'd understand. My Father has pretty high expectations for me.

Are you wondering what my IQ is?

I don't actually know since I've never taken a test before. I'm guessing around 150.

I'm not trying to brag. Honest! Just guessing.

It was currently dinner time. I was talking to my Father that night at the dinner table. It gets lonely around here sometimes since Mother is no longer here and I have to study all the time. Sometimes our butler and the big 5 watch over me, but barely. It would be cool if I could talk to someone in this house that's my age, or at least around my age.

Know why?

Well, I'll tell you.

I'm an only child.

While eating dinner, I looked up from my plate.

"Father, why was I born an only child?" I asked. I finished chewing and swallowed my food.

This was a conversation that I've had with my Father quite a few times at dinner. He doesn't like hearing about it, but that's due to how many times I bring it up.

I've seriously lost count.

"Your Mother wanted a kid. But not too many that we couldn't handle, so we're stuck with you. Now drop it, Noah. You know this conversation annoys me." My Father replied in an annoyed tone.

Yup, that's my Father Gozaburo Kaiba for you.

"But Father-"

"I said to drop the discussion, Noah! You can't grasp the simplest things! Children..."

My Father got up from the table after that and walked out of the dining room, quickly and angrily.

Yeah, that's what he's like. He was never one to be...well, what's the word...Fatherly?

You see, when I was younger, my Father was nicer to me. Now that I'm older, all he cares about is that I become the heir to our company. He hasn't been very nice to me now that I'm older.

My Father is the CEO of our company. He wants me to be educated while I'm young so I can take over the company by the time he dies. I can't even go outside. Yes, my education is that important to my Dad.

I guess it makes sense though. If I got educated at an older age, it would probably be harder to manage our company.

After all, some people die young.

It's unfortunate, but it's true.

I continued eating in silence.

_"I__ guess it's a good thing that I'm an only child, though. I won't be interrupted with my studies and I can study for as long as I want and for as much time as I want." _I thought.

I finished eating, took my plate to the sink, and washed it. Then I put it in the dishwasher and headed up to the library to continue my education.

Yeah, we have a library. My home is tremendous because my family is pretty affluent.

Wanna know why I study practically all day, every day?

Here's why.

My Father wants me to run Kaiba Corporation when I get older, or KaibaCorp for short. That's the name of our company that my Father wants me to run when I'm older. The one I was talking about earlier.

Remember earlier how I said how I thought it was good that I was more like my Mother than my Father? Well, now you know why.

I can't catch a break from this. My Father won't let me. He only cares about the company and that I run it. He hardly cares about the needs of his own son.

But...

Why do I have the feeling that all that is gonna change someday? This could just be me, though. My imagination must simply be going wild.

Or so I hope it is, since Father doesn't want any more children.

But, no matter how adamant he is about getting me a sibling or more, there's a chance that could change.

Why?

Why do I feel that way, I wonder?

It's not going to happen.

However, something felt off. I couldn't seem to concentrate.

I don't understand why, but this thought was staying in my head. It wasn't even that important. Not only that, but it was something I talked about often with my Father.

I need to stop thinking about this. I'll continue to be the only child...

...Won't I?

I reached the library and sat down in the seat I would always be sitting in when it was time to hit the books.

I kept thinking about the sibling thing. I shook my head.

_ "It isn't going to happen, Noah. You know that. You have to get back to your studies. That is what's important."_ I thought. I opened a book and began to read it. It was the book I had been reading earlier.

While I was reading, my eyelids were starting to get heavy. I looked around the library.

"No sign of Father anywhere." I whispered. I yawned.

I laid my head on the book I had been reading and closed my eyes. Before I knew it, I was out cold.

And I had a very interesting dream.

_End __chapter_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Noah's Dream

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was something hard under my face. I blinked and sat up. I looked down at the object I had been sleeping on.

It was a book. I rubbed my eyes.

I looked around the room. It was the library.

_"Did I fall asleep last night while studying?" _I thought as I rubbed my eyes again.

I don't remember. I guess I did because I woke up today on my books that I was reading last night. Well, it was one book, but there were a few more books piled next to me on my seat.

Father would usually snap me awake if he noticed me becoming drowsy during studying.

Why didn't he wake me up last night? I guess he knew how tired I was and decided to let me sleep. I don't know why, but I was really tired last night, so I guess he noticed it-like I already said-and decided to just let me stay asleep.

After all, I'm pretty young. He hardly ever lets me sleep, though. That is until the next day rolls around.

Yup. He makes me work on my education all night long.

But then it all came back to me. I had been thinking of siblings before I came to the library, I had walked over to my usual seat I'd sit at whenever it was time for me to study, I opened a book, but then I got tired and fell asleep on the book that I had been reading.

But my dream startled me a little bit. I'll tell you what happened.  
**IN NOAH'S DREAM**  
I was waiting for my father to arrive somewhere from inside our home. When he got home, he had company with him. Two kids.

One kid was taller than the other and had brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a sky blue sweater vest and a yellow, long-sleeved shirt. He also wore black jeans and gray shoes with white soles. He also had an orange bag, and pale skin.

This one looked like he was around twelve years old.

The other boy...? I mean, I can't be sure. He looked like a little girl.

Anyway, he or she had tan skin, blue eyes, and long black hair. The kid wore a green sweater, navy blue shorts, white socks, lavender shoes with white soles, and had a yellow backpack.

This kid was shorter than the other brother. Looked like they were around five years old.

I know I said this already, but that one looked like a little girl.

Both of the kids looked at me. The smaller one looked shocked for some weird reason.

I just stared at them, told them who I was, and walked back inside the house.

And then the dream changed.

I was with the older boy in what looked like a karate room. Now we were older. We were at least eighteen years old now.

We were standing on a blue mat and wearing gi, but I had a white belt on. My opponent had a brown belt on.

_"Why in the world-never mind. This is a dream. Dreams are weird." _I thought.

I guess this was supposed to tell me that he fights a lot or something.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Don't ask questions! Just fight!" He said.

Or maybe this dream was supposed to symbolize that we were different. Maybe I would have a different obstacle in my life soon. You can never really know what dreams are trying to tell us.

He ran at me and tried to punch me. I dodged his attack as quickly as I could.

"Whoa! Why are we-"

"Like I said, don't ask questions and just fight!" He said, cutting me off.

He turned around and tried to kick me. I think it was called a roundhouse kick.

I took the attack and staggered back, but before I could fall to the ground, I tried to get back over to him and punch him. He dodged it.

We didn't speak for a while. I threw a punch at him. It landed in his gut.

He threw a kick at me. I was too slow and it landed in my gut. I staggered back, my feet digging into the blue mat.

Quickly, he punched me. It landed on my cheek. I staggered back and fell down, breathing, my rear hitting the mat and my hands landing next to me on the mat.

"St-Stop! Wait!" I said as I held a hand out.

He stared down at me.

_"Is he not gonna let up?" _I thought. I stood up, lurched towards him, and tried to punch him. It landed on his shoulder, but I knew it was a light punch. He didn't flinch much.

"Is that all you got?!" He said, trying to punch me. I dodged it.

"I wasn't trained in karate or any type of fighting style!" I said, trying to punch him. He ducked.

"If that's all you got, it looks like you'll lose something you've worked so hard for in your life!" He grabbed me, quickly lifted me up over his shoulders, and threw me onto the blue mat.

That caught me off guard. Lose what? I turned over on the mat and scrambled to my feet and ran away from him. I ran at him and tried to kick him, but missed.

He tried to punch me. I managed to dodge it just in time. I almost forgot what he said due to all the fighting until it popped into my head again.

"What will I lose?!" I asked, punching him. It landed on his cheek, but it was slow enough that my knuckles managed to brush his cheek. The boy prepared to punch me again. He raised his right fist.

"You'll find out soon enough!" He said.

He punched me.

When that happened, I woke up.  
**OUT OF THE DREAM**  
_"They wouldn't be living with us, right? Father wouldn't want that. Besides, it was a vacuous dream, anyway. I don't understand that karate part, but it was kinda cool. I guess when you think about something so much it eventually affects your dreams." _I thought.

What I meant was the thought about my Father possibly getting more kids.

It must have affected my subconscious. I was thinking about it too much. I looked around the library.

"Well, no reason to just sit here." I muttered.

Everything seemed so quiet. I guess everyone else was asleep.

Yes, there are more people in this house other than just me, my Father, and the butler. The other people in the house are people that I like to call the big five.

The big five consists of five men named Crump, Leichter, Gansley, Johnson, and Nezbitt.

I walked out of the library and I walked to the kitchen to eat some breakfast. I saw a note on the fridge door and read it.

"A note?" I asked myself, and grabbed it off the refrigerator door. I read it aloud:

"Dear Noah,  
I have gone to a chess tournament today to participate in it.

Did you forget about that? I won't be back until who knows how long.

I figured I should give you a break from your studies during this time, so while I'm gone, you can do whatever you like.

From,  
Your Father."

I finished reading and threw the note in the trash.

"Whatever I want? I wonder what I should do. I'll eat some breakfast first. That's what I came down for, anyway."

So I got out some cereal, milk, and started eating.

While I was eating, I decided to think about my dream. It was so weird...two kids? In my dream? I wonder if it meant something. I doubt it.

Yes, I know I wanted to stop thinking about it, but it was so intriguing that I just couldn't seem to stop thinking about that little thought.

Maybe it was to symbolize my loneliness.

My loneliness...yes! That's it! It's always been pretty lonely around here with just me and my Father.

Well, besides the butler and the big 5. But like I said, I barely speak to them.

So those kids...if they could come here, that would be so cool.

But I doubt it would happen.

After all, it was both just a dream and a thought.

However, some dreams can come true if you can achieve them.

_End chapter_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Little Chess Master

**BACK AT THE ORPHANAGE**  
**Seto's POV**  
When I woke up that day, I sat up in my bed first.

I climbed out of my bed, grabbed my clothes, and walked to the bathroom to get changed. I walked back to the bedroom and put my night time clothes at the edge of my bed.

When I walked out of the bedroom, I noticed Mokuba talking to Brandon and whispering something in his ear. He gave Brandon a small camera.

"I borrowed it from the orphanage owner. He says to give it back to him after you take a picture of us." He said.

Brandon nodded and agreed. He walked away. Mokuba watched him walk down the hall. Mokuba turned around after Brandon was out of sight. He was about to walk to a table when I called out to him.

"Mokuba?"

Mokuba turned around and smiled at me.

"You're awake, big brother!"

"Yeah, I notice that you are as well. What was that about? You know, about you talking to Brandon." I asked him. Mokuba just smiled at me.

"Oh, nothing much. Are ya up for a game of chess, Seto?" He asked.

For a quick moment, I wondered why Mokuba changed the subject. I didn't think much about it. I nodded in agreement for a game of chess. That sounded like fun.

And it's not because I beat Mokuba a lot of the times we play, okay? It's just fun to play with him, that's all.

Or maybe I should say play against him since only one of us can win.

While we were playing chess, I saw Brandon walk up to our table but he stood a few feet away from us. He held that camera up that Mokuba had given him earlier.

"On three! One, two, three!" He said. Mokuba and I smiled at the camera.

Brandon walked away. After a while, he came back with a picture of me and my little brother. I was holding onto a chess piece.

"Here you go, Mokuba." He said as he gave Mokuba the picture of us.

"Thanks, Brandon!"

"Sure thing!" Brandon said with a smile. He walked away. After he walked away, Mokuba ripped the picture in half. He ripped the upper and lower parts of the picture, too.

"Little bro, what're you-"

Mokuba grinned and handed half of the picture to me. It was the half that was the picture of him. He looked happy and was holding onto a chess piece. I looked up from the picture to see him holding on the half that showed me. I was smiling and holding onto a chess piece. Mokuba was happier than me in his picture.

I looked back down at my picture and back at his.

"What're we gonna do with these, Mokuba?" I asked.

"I don't know about you, Seto, but I'm gonna hold onto mine. It's a picture to remember that we were here." He said, putting his picture below the table, which I'm guessing was in his pocket.

"Is there another reason for this?" I asked, putting my picture in my pocket.

"Nah. Not right now, at least. I'm gonna use the bathroom." Mokuba said. He turned in his chair, putting his feet on the floor after sliding out of his chair.

I nodded in response and then Mokuba walked out of the playroom.  
**************  
Six minutes later, he still wasn't back yet.

"Mokuba's been gone for a while. I'm gonna go check on him." I muttered as I got up from my seat. I walked out of the playroom and started to walk down the hall, looking around from time to time in case if Mokuba happened to be around.

Eventually, I saw two people, a boy and a girl, cornering someone near the bathroom door. I walked closer.

"Why are you always hanging out with that older boy? You're pretty helpless without him." The girl asked.

"You make him seem manly and he's just a kid! He's around twelve, right?"

"Well...y-yeah, but...he's my big brother." A familiar voice said. I walked closer and saw that it was Mokuba. He was looking at them but then he looked at the ground.

"BACK OFF!" I shouted at the boy and the girl. Startled, they turned around saw me.

"Oh, we were just talking about you." The girl said.

"I know. I heard that."

I walked closer to them and gave them both shoulder bumps so I could get to my brother.

"Come on, Mokuba. Let's head back to the playroom." I said.

Mokuba nodded and looked up at me. When I turned around, the two kids had blocked my way. I tried to get past them, but every time I did, they would block that direction. I sighed.

"Just stop." I said.

The girl grinned.

"So, why do you protect him all the time? Is it your duty? Why can't he protect himself?" The girl asked.

"He _can_ protect himself, but he's too weak and he's seven. If he did protect himself, he still would've gotten bruises. I don't know how long he could protect himself for. It's best that I protect him for now." I responded.

I tried to walk past the boy and the girl, but they blocked me, grinning as if it were hilarious.

_"Okay, this is enough."_

I punched the boy in the jaw. He gripped his jaw.

"Ow! What was that for!?"

"For you being annoying and not letting us through." I said.

He scowled and walked towards me. He tried to back me up against the wall and to trap me, but I wasn't gonna have that. When he tried to punch me, I dodged his attack and he fell to the floor. He got up and tried to attack me again, but I dodged him and kicked him in the back of the head.

When he got up from the floor this time, he walked away. I turned around to the girl.

"You wanna fight me?" I asked.

The girl shook her head.

"No, not really, no." She said. She started to turn around.

Before I could say or do anything else, she ran away.

"Fine. You weren't worth my time anyway." I said.

There was a light tap on my hand. I looked down. It was Mokuba.

"So then why did you fight them, big bro?" He asked.

"Well, Mokie, sometimes people pick fights and other times they won't leave you alone. You can walk away or fight back." I said.

I turned around. The girl had faded out of sight. I looked around.

"Might as well head back to the playroom." I said. Mokuba gripped onto my right pants leg. I noticed he was looking around. Guess he was looking out for more bullies.

I realized I had to reach my goal soon when I saw his expression.

"That's it, Mokuba!" I said.

"What's it, Seto?" Mokuba asked.

"I can't stand this anymore! I promised us we'd both get adopted, but it hasn't happened yet! Well, soon, it will!"

Mokuba stayed quiet. We both headed back to the playroom after that and sat at the same table we were at before.

"Let's continue." I said with a grin. Mokuba nodded and grinned.  
**************  
"Your move, Mokie." I said as I put a chess piece down on the board.

"Okay. I'll go here." Mokuba said, moving his chess piece.

The TV was blaring behind us.

"Hhhhhmmm..." I began to move my piece when the TV behind us caught my attention.

_"**And he did it once again, folks."**_ The TV man said. I turned around.

As it turns out, there was a chess tournament going on.

**_"__Gozaburo __Kaiba__ has retained his title as the world chess champion. The corporate genius and six timed world champ is a master strategist who has never once lost a single match. He maintains his statement that there's not a person alive who can defeat him. But make no mistake. This outspoken business tycoon has a heart of gold. Here he is donating a portion of his winnings, one hundred thousand dollars, from this tournament to a local orphanage. I'm sure he just made a lot of children very happy!" _**The reporter said.

I turned back to Mokuba so we could finish our game.

_"He thinks there isn't anyone who can beat '__im__, huh? Maybe someone will beat him someday."_ I thought.

Then I heard a car park itself in the driveway. I turned from my seat and looked at the window.

"Who's that?" Brandon asked, running to a nearby window. He turned around to us.

"There's a rich looking dude who just got out of a limo and the orphanage owner walked towards him. Now they're both walking towards this building! Everyone do something so you'll get adopted!" Brandon said.

He ran into the next room and started playing with some toys with the other kids.

"Poor guy. I wonder if staying at this orphanage is drivin' him crazy." Mokuba said.

I walked over to the window and peered outside. Brandon was right; there were two men out there!

One was the orphanage owner. He was wearing a green suit and glasses. He also wore brown shoes. That's about it. He had gray hair.

The other man wore a red suit with gold buttons and red pants. He wore a white shirt underneath his red suit and wore brown shoes. He also had gray hair and a gray mustache.

I noticed the limo behind them.

_"Yup, this guy is rich. Wait! Is that __Gozaburo __Kaiba__!?"_

My thought was answered on almost that very moment.

"Welcome, mister Kaiba."

The orphanage owner and his friends made way for Gozaburo Kaiba as they let him through the gates. Gozaburo Kaiba looked at them all before walking past them. The orphanage owner accompanied him.

"Well sir, heh heh heh, the children are this way. They'll be thrilled to meet you." The owner was telling the man in the red suit.

_"So I was right. That IS him!" _I thought.

"Look, I don't want any of these brats touching me. Let's just take a few pictures for the papers and I'll be on my way. Time is money, you know. What's that stench? You do bathe these little urchins, don't you?" Gozaburo Kaiba asked, his hands in his pockets.

He started walking inside the orphanage with the owner. I stood up in my chair. I walked outside and watched as he walked away.

"That guy is our ticket out of this dump, Mokie!" I said, holding my right fist up.

"But how? He's just here to visit, not to adopt anyone." Mokuba said.

"I'll make sure he takes us!"

"Wha? How?"

"Just follow me and do what I say, bro!"

Mokuba nodded.

"Fine."

"Okay, Gozaburo. It's time t' match wits with me and lose at your own game!" I said.  
**************  
I stood outside at the front of the orphanage as I waited for him. He was walking closer to us, his hands behind his back this time.

"Good afternoon, mister Kaiba." I said.

He stopped and looked at me.

"Hhhm? Yeah, I suppose. If you'll excuse me, kid. I'm in a rush." He said while looking down at me.

"I've got a challenge for you and I know you never pass one up!" I told him.

Gozaburo stared at me for a moment. He looked me over and did the same to Mokuba.

He raised a brow.

"Hhhmm? Yes, go on."

"Here's what I propose. One game of chess. Me against you. If I win, you adopt my brother and me today. No questions asked!" I said.

He chuckled. I just stared at him confidently.

"That's a good one! No one beats me at chess, kid. And I've been playing it for years. I was a world champion when you were sucking your thumb! You're in over your head, kid. What makes you think you can beat me?" He asked, his expression turning serious.

"Because I never lose either." I said.

"Huh..."

The orphanage owner looked at me as he started rubbing his cloth on his face. He looked distressed.

"So whaddaya say?"

"Well, you've certainly got a great deal of confidence in yourself, I have to give you credit with that. But I'm a busy man, and babysitting for you isn't on my schedule."

"So that means you're gonna back down? Wait 'til the newspapers find out you're scared of a kid!" I said.

Gozaburo's expression widened.

"What's that!? You wouldn't dare tell them that! I've got a reputation to uphold, you brat!" He said, his expression hardening once more.

"Alright, then. Let's play, kid. One match, one chance only." He said.

I narrowed my eyes as my grin grew wider.

"That's all I need." I said.

Gozaburo turned to the orphanage owner.

"Set us up in a quiet room now!" He barked. The orphanage owner timidly nodded.

"Sure, yes, right." He said.

Gozaburo walked past him and into the room.

"Let's get this game over with."

We walked into the room where Mokuba and I played chess. I sat down in a chair and Gozaburo sat down in the other chair.

"This won't take very long, junior." Gozaburo said.

"Those were my thoughts exactly, pops! It's your move!" I said.

"After you. You'll need all the help you can get."

Soon, we started playing our game that required a lot of brains and skill.

I took hold of a pawn and moved it forward.

"Pawn t' E3." I said.

"Hm! That's my opening move, kid!" Gozaburo said with what looked a slight smile. He moved his own pawn to his E3.

"I know," I said as I moved my pawn forward. "I've studied all your matches."

"Studying's one thing. Mastering is another." Gozaburo said, moving the pawn his used before in front of mine.

The match had gotten more intense before I knew it.

"Knight t' G5." I said, moving my knight into that area.

"You've left yer left flank exposed." I said.

A familiar "Hhhmm" came out of Gozaburo's mouth as he put a hand to his chin, yet he somehow managed to stay composed the whole time while I had some sweat rolling down the right side of my face due to how intense the match had become.

But he never noticed. I promised Mokuba we'd get adopted, and I wasn't gonna let him down.

And before I knew it, I had won.

"Bishop t' B6. Checkmate! You lose!" I said.

"Ah!"

Gozaburo looked at the chess board in shock. He was probably wondering how he lost to a twelve year old child.

"No! How could _YOU_ beat_ME_?!" He said.

"Now you have to adopt us like you promised, mister Kaiba." I said.

His expression softened. I guess the match was so intense that he forgot.

"Alright, you won. I'll keep my promise. You and Mokuba are my sons now." Gozaburo got up from the table, sighing.

That was the day when everything changed and I took control of my life.

The orphanage owner handed him the adoption papers. Gozaburo Kaiba's hand ran across the pages as he wrote on the papers. After that, he asked if he could take the papers home, and the orphanage owner agreed that Gozaburo Kaiba could take the papers home.

I wondered why.

After that, I got up and grabbed my bag. Mokuba did the same, and we followed Gozaburo outside into his limousine.

"Wait! Seto! Mokuba! Hang on!" A familiar voice said. Mokuba and I turned around to see Brandon running up to us.

"Hey, you two take care, okay?" Brandon said, extending his hand. I grinned and shook it firmly.

"You too, Brandon." I said.

Brandon walked over to Mokuba.

"Take care, Mokuba. Don't be afraid to stick up for yourself every once in a while." Brandon said, patting his shoulder. Mokuba smiled and nodded.

"Thanks, Brandon." Mokuba said.

We got into the limousine. As it rolled away, Brandon was waving at us. We rolled down the windows and waved back. Even though he was only one friend, maybe we'll get more friends in the future, or maybe not. Who knows?

Gozaburo Kaiba drove home. Mokuba and I were now officially a part of the Kaiba family. We were no longer just known as Seto and Mokuba.

We got out of the car when we got to our new home.

Our new home was HUGE.

It was a huge mansion. It had a large, black roof and the outside of the home was gray and white. There was a water fountain and four green hedges cut like L's, all reversed, mirrored, and backwards.

But then I noticed something was off about the house. It was at the door.

I looked at the door of the house and I saw a kid standing at the door. He was staring at us.

We walked up to him.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The boy had green hair, teal bangs, and blue eyes. He wore a white, long-sleeved shirt with purple linings and white shorts. He wore navy blue socks that stopped at his knees and brown dress shoes.

But his hair color was more of a mint green type. It wasn't exactly a regular green or dark green type.

He was kinda tan, like Mokuba, but he wasn't tan at the same time, or at least not as tan as Mokuba was.

I guess you could say that his skin was healthy.

The boy looked at us and opened his mouth.

"I'm Noah Kaiba. You're my new adoptive stepbrothers."

I looked down at Mokuba as Noah walked away. He looked at me with a shocked look.

"Hear that, Mokuba? We've got another brother now. A stepbrother, to be exact."

Mokuba nodded and smiled up at me.

"I hope he's nice to us, Seto! Not only that, but he's that flash of green hair that would appear in my dreams sometimes! He even appeared completely once and looked just like that!"

In the present, I can remember looking down at Mokuba and just nodding. Gozaburo Kaiba's name flew through my head. I stopped working and banged my fist onto my desk.

"I'll never get over his abuse. I hate what he did to me!" I said angrily.

"Seto?" Said a voice. I looked up to see it was my stepbrother, Noah.

"What is it, Noah?" I asked as I returned to my work.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"If that's all you had to ask, you wasted my time. Now leave." I said.

Noah raised a brow but walked out of the room.

What Mokuba had said at the Kaiba mansion that day flew through my mind. What happened after that?

Oh, right. I remember now.

_End __chapter_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: New Family For Noah

**Noah's POV**  
After I had eaten my breakfast, I walked around the house for a little while. While walking around the house, I wanted to watch TV. I walked into the living room and watched TV for a while.

I guess I was still a bit tired because I woke up kinda early. It was around seven forty. I'm pretty used to getting up that early due to my Father waking me up early a lot, but I eventually fell asleep.

When I took that nap, I had a dream.

I knew I was older again. I had been walking through a dark, abandoned, two story house. I don't know why. The house was very dark. The only light in the house was the light from where the windows should be.

I looked around the house. Graffiti surrounded some of its gray walls while other walls were perfectly fine.

The more I walked around the house, I began to hear voices. I walked into the room to see two boys-at least I think one was a boy-together. They looked to be in their teenage years, with one of them looking at least 6'1.

One had long black hair and the other one had short brown hair. They caught sight of me. The brown haired one stood in front of the black haired one protectively.

"Don't worry, Mokuba. You'll be fine. I'll protect you." He said.

That was confusing. Did I do something to him?

I was about to respond to the boy when a loud cry from outside disrupted me. I looked out the square where the window should be. Something covered the house. A shadow rolled onto the floor. It looked like a person.

The monster's head appeared next.

It...it really did look like a person. A man. He had tanned skin, long purple hair, and what looked like a purple robe. The robe was a dark purple and the rest of him was a lighter purple. He wore what looked like some kind of pointy helmet on his head.

In his right hand was a light green staff with a dark green orb in it.

Just who was this guy, and how could he fly?

_"Wait...unless he's not human!"_ I thought.

I started patting my shorts pockets for protection. Nothing was in there. I looked to my side. The brown haired boy was holding a card out.

"Attack him, Blue Eyes!"

A Blue Dragon popped out of the card. Oh! This must have been the legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon!

It opened its mouth, gathering power. It shot the beam at the magician man. I'll call him the Dark Magician.

The Dark Magician avoided the attack and flew into the room.

He pointed his staff at Blue Eyes and a light green sphere of power was shot towards it. Blue Eyes White Dragon took the attack. It quickly faded away. The Dark Magician lowered his staff.

The brown haired boy grinned.

"Oh, that's okay." He said. I raised a brow. Why was he so calm?

He reached into his pocket and held out another card.

"I summon Blue Eyes White Dragon in attack mode again!"

Blue Eyes popped out of its card. The Dark Magician looked surprised.

"White Lightning again, Blue Eyes, and make sure he doesn't escape this time!"

Blue Eyes White Dragon opened its mouth as it gathered the white, electrical beam of power. It launched its head forward as it shot the powerful beam at the Dark Magician.

He didn't escape this time. The Dark Magician was enveloped in the attack as I could see it wash him away.

The Blue Eyes White Dragon disappeared. There was another sound that became louder.

Louder.

And louder.

I woke up. It was to the sounds of the blaring TV.

I turned the TV off and yawned.

I was about to go back to sleep, but I pulled my head up when I heard the car pull up into the driveway. I got up from the couch and walked to the front of the house and to the door. I opened the front door and saw the car. Its doors opened.

I stayed on the steps of the mansion.

I saw two other kids get out of the car. One had short brown hair and the other one had long black hair. The black haired one looked shocked to see me.

_"__It's them! Those kids from my dreams! But what are they doing here!? But why does the younger one look so shocked? Maybe because no one ever thought __Gozaburo __Kaiba__ had a son, let alone a green haired one." _I thought.

This was very, very strange. So I guess certain dreams really can predict the future?!

After years of wondering if I would ever get any siblings, it finally happened!

But was I caught off guard?

Of course I was! It was always just a common conversation I would have with my Dad. I never thought it would actually happen.

The brown haired one, who I believe is Seto, looked at me.

"Who are you?" He asked.

_"Just like in my dream! Well, the first one." _I thought.

"I'm Noah Kaiba. You're my new adoptive stepbrothers." I replied.

I turned and walked back into the house with that. I heard them mutter something about being stepbrothers while the other one talked about me hopefully being nice to them and something about a few dreams they had.

_"No wonder why she looked so shocked in real life and in the dream. Looks like I also appeared in her dreams." _I thought as I walked inside.

All I can say right now is that I'll try to be as nice to them as I can, but I can't be too sure.

After all, I had KaibaCorp to focus on! Thanks to my Dad, that is.

_"__This IS a dream, right?"_

I pinched myself.

_"O__w! No, this is real...darn it!"_ I thought.

At the same time, this wouldn't be so bad. At least I wouldn't be alone anymore and I'd have someone to talk to! I was thinking a lot about this anyway. I guess it was weird how I seemed mad for a moment there.

_"This is so weird. It'll take a while to get used to these two around the house, especially since it's not just a thought anymore." _I thought.

It would feel so weird to know that there would be two other kids-practically strangers right now-in the house with me. But I knew I'd get used to it.

"This way, boys." I heard the butler say to my newly adopted stepbrothers. He led them to their rooms.

_"Oh, so the black haired one __IS __a boy. __Opps__...I called him a girl. Well, I got it now." _I thought.

"We've got a new brother! Yay!" Mokuba, the younger brother, said happily. I guess they were really happy since they were still talking about this whole situation.

Well, at least Mokuba seemed happy. I wasn't sure about Seto. He was probably wondering about what his life would be like now that he's in a new home.

And that his new family happens to be rich.

As I was walking towards the library, my Father walked past me. I stopped walking, turned around, and followed him down all the long, winding hallways.

I saw him walk into the last room of the first hallway. That was a special room. My Dad called it the Virtual World room.

I took a peek inside and hid behind the wall.

"So he's still working on that digital world...he finished the capsules, though. At least they work unerringly." I said out loud.

My Father turned around.

"Noah? Is that you?"

I didn't speak and immediately started walking quickly back down the hallway, all the way back down until I reached the library. I walked in and practically dove back into my seat.

I heard footsteps walking down the hall, getting closer and closer.

I opened a book and began reading it.

I didn't actually read it, though. I just made it _look _like I was reading it. After all, I had only just run in there.

Father walked in shortly afterwards. He didn't look confused like I thought he would be.

Instead, he looked austere as usual.

"Son, close your books." He said in a not-so-pleasant tone.

"Why, Father?"

"I will tell you at dinner."

With that, my Dad walked out of the room.

_"Tell me at dinner? What is it you want to tell me at dinner?" _I thought. But I closed the book I was reading like Father asked. I stared at the clock until dinner arrived.

I'm sure it's nothing bad.

...Right?

I was watching the clock's hands move along the wall. It seemed like forever until dinner rolled around.

But dinner did roll around. And man, was it going to be sad for me!

_End chapter_  
**Hey, guys. I know that Dark Magician is weaker than Blue Eyes, but remember, this is a dream, and in dreams, anything can happen.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Noah's Hard Work...Wasted?!

**Seto's POV**  
It had been about three hours since Mokuba and I had been living in the Kaiba household.

I saw something in my doorway. I looked up from placing a book on my nightstand and realized that it was the butler.

"Hello, Seto. It is time to eat. Your brother Mokuba and stepbrother, Noah, are waiting for you in the dining room." The butler said, standing in my new bedroom doorway.

"Okay." I said. I walked away from the desk and closed my open book that was on my bed and walked out of the room. I followed the butler down the hall to the dining room.

It was kind of a long walk there, but I was new to this place, after all. I'd memorize the place eventually and get used to it, even though the place was _HUGE._

So for now, I guess I would just have to follow the butler or Noah around. The Dad, Gozaburo, is kinda scary. Besides, I don't see him around here that often. I wonder if he goes out a lot.

If that's the case, then why would he have his own son? Well, if Noah annoys him non-stop, I guess that's why we barely see him.

Or maybe he's just naturally like that. I don't know why I think that he's scary. There's just something about Gozaburo that makes me think he's scary. Maybe it's because of how he looks so serious all the time?

When we finally reached the dining room, I sat down in the nearest seat, the closest one to the door. The butler stood in the corner of the room and watched us for a while.

It was a pretty big room.

Gozaburo motioned him to go away. The butler nodded, opened the dining room door, and walked out. He closed it behind him.

I started to eat and noticed Gozaburo exchanging glances to me and Noah from time to time. Noah noticed this, because he said:

"What is it, Father?"

"Noah, Seto, I'd like to tell you something." Gozaburo said.

"Yeah? What is it?" Noah repeated.

"Noah, you can stay away from the library from now on and do whatever you want-just don't try studying."

"Father! Are you saying that I'm NOT gonna be running KaibaCorp when I'm older?!"

Gozaburo nodded. Noah stared at this pathetic excuse for a Father in disbelief.

"That's right, Noah. I noticed that Seto was more fit for running KaibaCorp, and he WILL run KaibaCorp when you, him, and Mokuba are older. Therefore, I'm giving your forty nine percent of KaibaCorp to Seto."

"Why?!" Noah asked.

"He beat me at a game of chess. You could never do that, Noah. You both are the same age-twelve-and even I'm older than you are." Gozaburo replied.

_"Is he serious?! Just because I beat him at chess, he thinks that I can run __KaibaCorp__?! But I'm not even USED to this place yet!" _I thought in my head.

This was just weird! Maybe it was even beyond weird.

I guess abnormal is more like it.

Gozaburo turned to me as poor Noah pushed his bare plate away from him. He laid his head down on the table, his head on his arms. His arms were covering his face.

"Are you kidding me...? I've been training for this my whole life and now it's taken away from me just like that..." I heard him mutter sadly.

_"Well great. Now it looks like __Gozaburo__ made Noah sad." _I thought.

"You and I both have forty nine percent, Seto. We're even."

Gozaburo turned to Mokuba.

"Mokuba, I'm giving you two percent of KaibaCorp."

Mokuba just nodded and continued eating. I'm sure he didn't understand what was going on.

"Father! Please rethink this! I've been training for years now, and all of that training is wasted!? Do you realize how unfair this is!? I've been training really hard to run Kaiba Corporation my entire life, and now that's taken away from me!" Noah said to Gozaburo, lifting his head up from his arms.

"Yes, Noah. I know it's unfair, but it's settled. This is how it's going to be from now on. Life is unfair. Now then, be quiet. End of discussion."

But Noah wouldn't listen. He spoke even louder now.

"But Father-"

Gozaburo cut him off.

"I TOLD YOU TO BE QUIET, NOAH! YOU'RE NOT FIT FOR KAIBA CORPORATION AND YOU NEVER WILL BE! Are you so DENSE that you can't even GRASP THAT SIMPLE TALK WE JUST HAD!?" Gozaburo shouted at Noah and got up from the table.

He walked away and out of the room.

Mokuba and I stared at Gozaburo.

Noah just stared ahead in shock, his eyes glassy and distant. He couldn't believe what he just heard and neither could I.

This poor kid was training for this company for practically his whole life, and now I get to run it all of a sudden!? That's the exact definition of a horrible Dad!

"Wow. What a pathetic excuse for a dad." I finally said after a long moment of silence. Noah just nodded and stared down at his plate. I finished eating.

Noah and Mokuba finished as well.

Noah got up from the table and slowly put his plate in the sink. Then he started to walk out of the room and didn't even acknowledge his new family members.

_"Poor Noah." _I thought as I watched him walk out.

It was probably just me, but it looked like Noah was walking slowly.

Mokuba and I got up from the table, put our plates in the sink, and walked out of the room.

The food we were eating was beef fillet, and that turned out to be one of my favorite foods.

I was gonna walk to my room when the butler stopped me.

"Come with me, Seto. Mister Kaiba wants to speak with you."

"Alright." I said.

When I agreed, the butler led me to the library and I noticed _TONS_ of books at the table! My mouth opened as I looked around.

"I have to go through all of THESE?!" I ask-shouted out loud.

The butler only turned around and walked out.

Gozaburo came in shortly after.

"I heard what you asked our butler, Seto. The answer is yes. Now let's begin your education for running KaibaCorp!"

_"Guess that confirms it." _I thought.

I didn't know where KaibaCorporation was. Maybe it was somewhere in Domino City. Maybe I'll be in there when I get older.

In the present, I remember that I knew I'd do my best for everyone, including my stepbrother.

I also knew it was gonna be hard. There was no doubt about that. I already got my little brother and I adopted, and since that was my former goal, this can be my new goal.

Unless if I got another goal, of course.

I couldn't help but shake my head as I looked out the window. I turned my head towards my doorway, only to see no one there.

With all the barging in they were doing today, I guess I expected Noah or Mokuba to be there. I turned back around in my chair and just looked out the window.

Did I get a new goal? Yes.

But now it's time to shift the perspective to someone else for a moment.  
**Noah's POV**  
I was walking down the hallway towards my room when Mokuba came out of the bathroom. He stopped and stared at me.

"What do you want, Mokuba? To make fun of me?" I asked him with a quizzical glare.

Mokuba shook his head and smiled at me.

"Noah, do you want to play with me?"

My eyes widened.

He just asked me to play with him, and my answer came to me quickly.

_End __chapter_


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Play With Mokuba?-Seto Is Striving For Noah and Mokuba! (Part 1)

"Huh? Did you just ask me if I want to play with you?" I asked Mokuba.

Mokuba nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, I did!"

I dropped my suspicions about earlier almost immediately but didn't nod. I've never gotten to play with anyone before.

I mean, I've gotten to play with toys and stuff, yes, but that was when I was younger and before this entire _Noah will run __KaibaCorp__! _thing.  
I probably played with my parents when I was just a toddler, but I don't really remember those years.

Now that I no longer get to run KaibaCorp, I have a lot of free time and can ask to play, or hang out, with Mokuba whenever I want to. Or whenever he wants to.

But I wasn't too sure if we'll be able to play with each other a lot. After all, there's the entire thing with Seto, too.

"Thanks, Mokuba, but I think I'll pass. I haven't done anything like being alone and doing whatever I want in the longest time. I want to enjoy my newfound freedom." I said.

Now I wasn't trying to be mean on purpose. You see, it's been so long since I was able to do anything by myself in a long time, and I wanted to take that opportunity.

Not only that, but I was still a little bit mad at my Father's choice. I didn't wanna be mean to Mokuba when he hardly knew me.

But it looked like Mokuba was just a nice kid. I guess there was no reason to be suspicious in the first place.

Mokuba looked sad at first, but then he smiled and nodded.

"Suit yourself." He said as he walked into his room.

I watched him walk into his room. He left it open a crack.

I walked past his room and walked into my room.

"I haven't had fun in a long time." I said, smiling to myself as I turned the light on and walked over to the computer. I turned it on and sat down at my chair.

"Here we go. What should I do?" I asked myself as I looked over my computer screen. I clicked on google chrome, deciding to check the internet for a while.

When I finished with that, I opened a new tab and went to a website where I used to play games. I clicked on a fighting game.

Do you know the _Super Smash Bros. _series? It's very similar to that. But no, it's not the same game. Just similar to it.

I chose my avatar, Link, and looked through the other avatars. I clicked on Sonic.

"Sonic. Why not." I said as I clicked on him.

When the match started, I made Link move. This made Sonic run at Link. I made Link jump. Sonic jumped up and attacked Link. I made Link dodge and attack Sonic.

Sonic took damage as Link continued to swing his sword at him, taking away more and more life from Sonic. Now I was just having Link continuously attack Sonic with his sword.

Could Sonic escape?

For the so-called fastest thing alive, no.

When I thought Sonic had enough, I stopped attacking him and instead I stood close to the end of the battlefield.

One move backwards and Link would fall.

Sonic ran at Link. Making Link dodge the attack, Sonic wasn't able to stop in time and fell off the end of the battlefield, gaining Link a point.

It continued like this, Link attacking Sonic and Sonic attacking Link.

When the match eventually ended, I won.

I chose a different avatar this time. Mario. I made him go up against Fox McCloud.

I was the one to deal the first attack this time. I made Mario attack Fox as Fox took damage. Fox took out his gun and tried to shoot Mario.

Making Mario jump, I made him throw a fireball at Fox, which Fox managed to dodge and came closer to Mario.

"No!" I said. I had Mario attack Fox.

I made Mario get closer to Fox as Fox managed to blast him. Mario took damage.

Fox backed up to a cliff. I made Mario charge at him and Fox fell off the cliff, gaining Mario a point.

When the match ended, I won once again.

I played a few more rounds. I switched avatars, kept some the same, won most matches, and kept doing that until I got bored.

I exited off the tab and got up from my seat. I wasn't tired, so I figured I should walk around the mansion.

I got to Mokuba's room. His door was open a crack.

I figured I should go in there as an apology for earlier.

"Hey, Mokuba. What are you drawing?" I asked as I stood next to him. Mokuba was drawing a picture.

"A Blue Eyes White Dragon! Seto always wanted this monster, so I figured I should draw one for him. Maybe he'll get one someday." Mokuba said. I smiled.

"That's sweet." I said as I sat down next to him.

Mokuba nodded and looked back at his drawing as he continued to color it in.

"I can imagine us riding one right now, Noah. You're on it with us!" Mokuba said with a smile.

I looked at him. A smile began to form on my face.

I got up.

"That's nice of you. You two must be really close, huh?" I asked him.

Mokuba smiled and nodded.

"You got that right!" Mokuba said.

Then I realized that I wanted to do something for Seto as well.

I grabbed a sheet of paper and started writing on it once I sat down on the floor. I was writing a letter for Seto. I mean, after all, he's new to the family so I thought I should do something for him, especially after what happened today.

When I finished my letter, I stood up.

When I was about to walk out of the room, I noticed a book on his desk.

"Huh? I wonder why Duel Monster cards are in this book." I said.

I shrugged and walked past the book, but I placed the letter in the book for now.

"Oh well. Maybe they belong to Seto and Mokuba was safekeeping them. I'll be going now." I said. I stood up.

_"__Mokuba__ doesn't seem to be into Duel Monsters, though, so that must be __Seto's__ card deck." _I thought as I looked at the deck.

Mokuba waved.

"See ya tomorrow, Noah!"

I waved back and walked out of Mokuba's room and towards my room.

"Thanks, Mokuba."

I know I was shocked to see them at first, but that was because it was just a conversation that I never thought would come true.

But you know what?

Maybe they'll be nice to have around the house after all.  
**************  
As I walked to my room, I noticed the door to Seto's room was open. He probably didn't have enough time to close it earlier or didn't know that education would be pushed on him on his first day here.

Then again, I didn't know that would happen, either.

I didn't bother to go inside his room. I walked into my room, got changed for bed, got into the bed, pulled the sheets over me, and rolled onto my side.

_"Everything is going to be different from here on out." _I thought.

With that, I closed my eyes and eventually fell asleep.

But I never knew how much it would change him.

Hm? Yes, it did change him. Here I am, looking into his office and watching him type on his laptop. I walked past his office and to my own room.

Let's see what happens next, shall we?

_End chapter_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Play With Mokuba?-Seto Is Striving For Noah and Mokuba! (Part 2)

**Seto's POV**  
_"I-I'm so tired...why won't __Gozaburo__ let me go to sleep!?" _Hearing those words echoing around in my head seemed to be the only thing keeping me awake.

I was studying in the library and writing in the books. I kept bobbing my head to keep myself awake. I also tried to think of other things to keep me awake while I was studying.

Just random things. Things like Duel Monsters.

I was really trying my best not to fall asleep, but my eyelids were so heavy! I tried rubbing my eyes. It didn't help very much.

I looked at the clock.

_"Two __fourty__ seven AM?! This isn't right! I'll find a way to kick this guy out of his own company...someday! Hopefully that's soon!" _I thought. I knew my eyes weren't playing tricks on me.

"SETO! Stay awake, boy!" Gozaburo shouted at me from the corner of the room. My head snapped up as I looked down at the book page I was currently working on.

"It's past my bedtime! I'm not used to staying up this late, Dad!" I said, my right hand scribbling furiously across the page.

"I don't care, Seto. For trying to fall asleep, you're getting more books tonight! And you're not going anywhere until they're done. You hear me? You aren't even going to **_sleep_** until they're done!" Gozaburo said sternly.

He had to be joking! I couldn't go to sleep just because I nearly fell asleep while studying?!

But no. He seemed absolutely serious.

He turned around. I noticed something in his hands, but I couldn't tell what it was.

While his back was turned, I wanted to just leap out from my seat and punch him in the back, maybe even more than once. I could even imagine it.

But I didn't. I continued to work. He might have forced me to work even more if I punched him in the back or gave him more than one punch.

I just hope Brandon's life wasn't as bad as my new one currently was.

He gave me one last glance. I put my head down and continued to work.

"Seto." He said.

Without saying a word, I looked up from my work. He threw what was behind his back at me. It landed on my book, and the same went for something else.

I put my pencil down and held it up. It was a long sleeved shirt similar to Noah's, but instead of lavender lining, mine looked more like a school uniform with gold buttons. I held up the other thing he threw at me.

It was white pants.

"Since you're a Kaiba now, you'll be wearing that from now on. The shoes you'll wear are in your room. As for Mokuba, he'll wear a long sleeved yellow shirt with a collar and beige pants."

He turned around and walked out of the room after that, hands behind his back once again. He slammed the door behind him.

I somehow didn't flinch and continued to work.

_"__This __slimeball__ is really gonna push me that far just because I'm tired!? This is ridiculous! I'm just a kid! Does he even UNDERSTAND what that word means? I'm not calling him "Dad" ever again. __Gozaburo'll__ do just fine for me." _I thought.

But I had no choice. He was giving me no choice.

If I wanted to get some sleep, I had to continue with my so called education.

_"I have a new goal now. I'll kick __Gozaburo__Kaiba__ out of his own company!"_ I thought.

Hey, I told you I got a new goal.  
**Mokuba's POV**  
I finished drawing the Blue Eyes White Dragon card and put it in the book on my desk.

"I hope this will encourage Seto." I said softly. I carefully opened the book again.

I organized the cards in the way Seto would want them to be ordered.

After that, I carefully closed the book so I wouldn't crush the cards.

I was sound asleep when I thought I heard footsteps walk past my room. I opened my eyes to see a shadow walk past my room.

It was the butler's shadow.

I got out of bed, took the book off the desk, and I carried it with me when I walked over to the butler. I held the book up in front of him.

"Please take this to Seto!" I said.

The butler took the book without questioning me.

"Certainly, sir."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, Mokuba."

I walked back to my room after that, closed the door, got back into bed, and went to sleep once I pulled the covers over me.  
**Seto's POV**  
"Ah..." I couldn't take it. I lost my grip on the pencil I was writing with. I shut my eyes and laid myself down on the couch from exhaustion.

But I wasn't laying down for long.

The butler came in and threw a book practically right in front of me. Feeling the weight of the book, I immediately opened my eyes and sat up.

"Your brother Mokuba wanted me to give that to you." The butler said. He walked out after that.

I picked the book up.

"Mokuba wanted to give this to me? Why...?" I opened it up and something-no, things-fell out. I picked them up when I realized what they were and smiled.

"My Duel Monster cards! They're not the best cards, but at least they belong to me." I said happily. I flipped through the cards. There was another one in there.

It was a Blue Eyes White Dragon drawing that was cut into a card. I knew Mokuba drew it. I smiled as I looked down at the card-drawing.

"Don't worry, Mokuba. I'll get a Blue Eyes White Dragon someday." I looked up from the card and back to the book I was writing in.

"I don't know when it'll happen, but I know I'll get one someday!"

After that, I set the drawing and the cards down next to me on the book.

I looked at the cards and then I looked over at the Blue Eyes White Dragon drawing. Then I noticed a what looked like a folded sheet of paper. I reached over to it and unfolded it, thinking it was a letter.

I was right.

But it was from Noah. I read it in my head.

"_Dear __Seto__,_  
_You know, it's strange._

_There were times when I would talk to my Father at dinner about siblings. The conversation would be if I could get at least one sibling one day. Now Father's tired about hearing about it. But he doesn't have to hear about it anymore since you and __Mokuba__ are here now. Sometimes I would be lonely._

_But maybe I won't be lonely anymore._

_Anyway, what I wanted to say is that you shouldn't give up! I had to go through the same "education" you're going through right now. It's tough, but if I can manage, so can you._

_Remember what I said-don't give up. Actually, don't give up for both me and __Mokuba__. The kid really looks up to you._

_Thank you for joining the family._

_From,_  
_Noah, your new stepbrother."_

I put the letter back in the book. I closed the book and put it on the floor.

Noah was right. It was tough, but I was never gonna give up. I promised myself I would never give up.

I started to pick up my pace on my studies. In no time at all, I was finished.

"Finally...finally done..." I muttered once I had finished my 'education'. I closed the book I had been writing in, my eyes beginning to close.

I sat up and I laid down on the couch and shut my eyes once again.

And before I knew it, just like that, I was out for the night with no interruptions.

As I currently look out the window in the present time, I cross my arms as I remember the next day.

Was I expecting it to happen?

No. Not at all.

I sent the email I had been typing and closed the laptop lid.

Let's just say that the next day was...interesting.

Very interesting and not what I thought would happen at all.

_End chapter_


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: How Seto Got Some Of His Duel Monster Cards

I was sound asleep when I thought I heard someone call my name and shake me.

"Hey Se-"

I sat up and saw Noah, who jumped a little. I guess he was surprised.

We talked for a bit more until I got up from the couch, which surprised Noah. You see, Gozaburo had woken me up earlier that morning and wanted to take me somewhere, which is why I got up.

"Seto, where are you going?" He asked.

"To the limo. Gozaburo said he wanted to take me somewhere today. He didn't say why or where he wanted to take me. Then he walked out of the library." I said, fists clenched.

I just didn't trust Gozaburo.

"Okay. Wait, when did he say this?" Noah asked.

"He said he wanted to take me somewhere this morning while everyone else was asleep. I'm not sure about the time because I didn't look at the clock. I fell back asleep after he walked out." I said, turning around to look at him.

Noah nodded.

"Okay. Well, you'd better go now. You don't want to keep Father waiting."

I nodded, turned back around, and walked out.

Soon, I was in the limo. I was expecting Gozaburo to already be in the limo and be waiting for me and being really impatient, but surprisingly, I was the first one in the limo.

It took him a while, but Gozaburo finally came out of the mansion and into the limo with me.

_"Slowpoke." _I thought as I watched him get into the driver's seat. After he started the limo up and we backed out of the u-turned Kaiba mansion driveway, I turned a bit in my seat and looked out of the window.

Gozaburo didn't speak to me even once during the drive, so I just stared out the window.

When he stopped the limo, I got out of the limo and I was in front of a game store. We walked inside.

Cards! Duel Monsters cards were EVERYWHERE! I walked over to a stand and took some cards off of it.

"Enjoy it while you can, Seto. While I was adopting you and and Mokuba, I looked over your information on your papers. Since I didn't finish, I began looking over the papers again yesterday. I learned that tomorrow is October twenty fifth, your birthday." Gozaburo said, and started walking away and checking out cards on a stand.

"Hey Gozaburo? Why did you take me here?" I asked.

"As an early birthday present, and also because we'll be doing something else for your birthday tomorrow." He replied, and then walked away.

I began to walk around. While walking around, I walked over to a stand and I picked up something called a 'Crush Card Virus'. I put it in my hand and looked for more cards, until something caught my eye.

"No way! A Blue Eyes White Dragon!? My lucky day!" I said. I quickly took the Blue Eyes off of the stand and held onto it. It looked so cool in the card.

I looked through the store. I found another one on the same stand, but it was hidden behind some cards. I picked that one out and held onto it, too.

I looked through the store again. Since I had two Blue Eyes, maybe there was at least one more in the store.

I finally found another one near the back of the store. It was harder to find because this one was very well hidden. But after moving some cards around and looking around relentlessly, I finally found it. I took it off its stand and held onto it. I looked at the cards in my hand.

_"These are incredibly rare, and now I possess three of them!" _I thought with excitement. I knew I shouldn't have been getting so arrogant like that, but it's not everyday you see incredibly rare cards like these in a store!

"Seto! Are you still here?" I heard Gozaburo say. I looked up from the cards in my hands.

"Yeah! I'm over here!"

"Where?"

"Here!" I said, raising my hand so he could see me.

Gozaburo noticed my raised hand and walked over to me. I put my hand down. He noticed the cards in my hands and looked over my three discoveries.

"Those are what you want, Seto?" He finally asked, bending down to see the cards better. I nodded.

"Alright. Let's play for those cards, boy. Follow me." Gozaburo said as he stood upright.

He took me to the counter and paid for the cards.

After we paid for the cards, a girl, who was older than me, walked into the shop.

"I heard there's three Blue Eyes White Dragons in here. I want one!" She said, looking through the shop.

_"Too bad. I got them all." _I thought.

We were nearly out of the shop when I heard the girl cry out in frustration.

"Where are they?!" She said. She noticed me staring at her and angrily walked over to me.

"Hey kid, show me the cards you have!"

"Not gonna happen." I said.

She grabbed my hand and noticed the three dragons right away.

"Aha! If you don't mind, I'll just-"

_BAM!_

She got a punch in the gut from me before she could even finish her sentence.

"These are my cards! My stepfather paid for them! You shouldn't try to take another kid's card just because that kid has a card you want! If you want a card someone has, you should trade them for it, not steal it!" I said. The girl glared at me.

"Oh yeah? Well, you're gonna pay for that!" She growled. She reached her hands out as if to grab me, and I gave her a headbutt. She didn't fall down.

I tried to walk away, but I saw her walk towards me once again through the glass window.

Did she want a fight? Fine.

I'll give her a fight.

_"This girl's annoying."_ I thought.

I turned around and threw a punch at her. She took the punch, but she continued to walk towards me. When I punched her again, she dodged it and reached her hand out.

She was looking at my right hand. I quickly put them in my left hand hand and punched her using my right hand.

Or maybe I should say fist since I just punched her.

She took the attack and staggered backwards, but I didn't have enough time to get out of that game shop.

When I punched her again, she took the attack but quickly grabbed my wrist.

I kicked her in the gut. Her hand continued to pull on my wrist, but once she fell back, she pulled me with her. I fell forwards and my cards fell out of my hands behind her on the floor. She had lost her grip on my hand when we fell down.

_"No! I haven't even used them yet! There's no way I'm going to let her take them from me!"_ I thought as I reached out for my fallen cards.

Did I care that they had fallen onto the floor? Not at all. All I wanted now was to get them back.

I had crawled over the girl. I was so close to reaching my cards when she grabbed my wrist again, making me lose my balance and fall onto the side. She reached behind her and managed to grip one of my Blue Eyes White Dragon cards.

"NO ONE TOUCHES MY CARDS EXCEPT ME!" I yelled.

...Well...technically me and anyone I trust, but Gozaburo had just paid for these cards of mine. I hadn't even used them yet, and here I was, about to lose them to a girl I didn't even know who desperately wanted a Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Angry, I pulled my wrist out of her grip, swiped the Blue Eyes out of her hand, and dove for my cards that were on the floor.

But she didn't give in.

I managed to collect all my cards and I placed them all in my hand. I stood up, turned around, and had a card swiped out of my hand.

I looked through my deck. Was it a Blue Eyes?

No. I had all three. I looked up to see the missing card in the girl's hand.

"What the heck is a Crush Card Virus? No, no, I wanted a Blue Eyes!" She said. I managed to swipe my card out of her hand and started walking past her, putting my cards in my pocket.

While walking away, I noticed her in the glass, walking towards me with an outstretched hand.

I mentally sighed.

_"Just give up already!"_

When she was close enough, I grabbed her wrist, turned around, and punched her hard in the gut.

_"That should be enough."_

Alright, alright. I was expecting her to get up, but she just sat there on the ground. I finally walked towards the door.

Where was Gozaburo? He had been waiting for me in the car.

"I think I'm gonna need an ambulance." I heard her say, pain in her voice. I walked towards the limo and got into my seat of the car that I had been sitting in earlier, which was the passenger seat. Gozaburo started the car.

"I was watching that fight, Seto. Not only are you good at chess, but you're good at fighting, too. You're tougher than you look." He said as we drove out of the parking lot.

"I know." I said, giving him a quick sideway glance.

"I see you aren't wearing the uniform you should be wearing. Wear it tomorrow." Gozaburo said. I didn't answer and looked at my new card deck.

_"So many cards!" _I thought, looking through my new deck. I got a lot of cards that day. We got into the limo and drove home. I just stared at the cards all the way back home.

I took them into the house. When Mokuba saw the cards, he hugged me.

"Congratulations, big bro! Your dream of owning at least one Blue Eyes White Dragon has come true! But instead of owning one, you own three of them!" He said.

"Thanks, Mokuba!" I hugged him back, a huge smile on my face. I saw Noah standing in a corner. He walked over to me and looked at my cards.

"Congratulations, Seto. Those cards are very, very cool." He said. After he asked how my day was and I told him, he walked away.

Mokuba tugged on my shirt.

"Can I see a few cards?" He asked. I nodded and showed him some of my cards.

Mokuba had a huge smile on his face.

He looked through some cards I got. He was really excited when he saw one Blue Eyes. I explained each card to him and their abilities.

Oh, that's right! I have a new deck now!

"I'll be right back, Mokie." I said. I walked to my room, took my old deck out from where I hid them, turned around, and walked out of my room. I returned to Mokuba.

"Here, Mokuba. It's my old deck. You can have it. I have a better deck now." I said. Mokuba took my old deck out of my hands and gleefully looked through it.

"Gee, thanks, Seto!" He said, looking up at me and putting his new deck in his pocket.

"Welcome." I said.

We both walked to our rooms after that.

I looked through the cards to make sure they were all there. Yup, it was all the new cards.

I placed those new cards in a book. I couldn't carry them around with me all the time, so I thought that a book could be another good place to store them if I wasn't using them.

I found that Blue Eyes Mokuba had drawn for me a while back.

I knew exactly where to put it.

I put it in that book.

When we ate dinner, we didn't even talk about KaibaCorp.  
*************  
In the present, I'm looking out the window, remembering how it ended.

Would my birthday be a fun day?

No. In fact, it would be very different from how a birthday should be.

I smirked as I remembered the look on my stepfather's face.

"You got to see what I was capable of, Gozaburo."

But he would find out about that the hard way.

_End chapter_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: That Birthday

I woke up again and stretched. I looked at my desk, a somnolent feeling still inside of me.

I slowly walked over to the desk and looked at my deck.

"Still there, huh...?"

So it wasn't a dream. I knew it was too good to be true, and too realistic. I stared at my deck on top of my desk for a few more moments. I rubbed my eyes while still facing my desk.

Then I turned away, got dressed in the uniform forced on me by Gozaburo, walked over to the door, and slowly trudged out of the door and down the hall.

I sat down on the couch, but not for long.

Mokuba came in and sat down. A few minutes later, Gozaburo walked in. We hadn't been sitting down for that long. I'm guessing around eight minutes.

_"He looks the same way he normally does. Does __Gozaburo__ even get tired?" _I thought.

"Seto, Mokuba, come with me. There's something I want to give you. Preferably Seto." He said with a stern look.

I looked at Mokuba and nodded. Mokuba nodded at me as well.

Mokuba and I stood up from the couch. We followed Gozaburo up into a room in the third hall at the very end of the hall. We all walked inside.

Gozaburo sat at the very first chair while I sat at the very last chair, vertically across from Gozaburo so I was facing him. Mokuba just stood next to me.

A man named Leichter came in and so did the butler. The butler was wheeling something in with him. He stood the object up next to him. It was a huge dolly, but what was all that stuff under the sheet?

"Remove the sheet." Gozaburo instructed. The butler did as he was told.

It was holding a LOT of money. Maybe ten million dollars? It's not like Gozaburo would give me that much money.

Leichter had brown hair and a goatee. His hair was spiked up, kinda like a mohawk, and he wore a closed blue blazer and blue pants. He wore a white shirt underneath and a red tie. He had tanned skin and wore brown shoes. He had broad shoulders.

"Seto, I'm giving you ten million dollars." Gozaburo said, looking right at me in the eyes.

"What?!" I said in astonishment. Was he actually serious!? But why?!

Guess I thought too soon. You know, about the money thing earlier.

Gozaburo held up a finger.

"But there's a catch. You have to pay me back twice the amount of this money by next year, or else I'm sending you and Mokuba back to the orphanage. Leichter here can help you." He said, motioning Leitcher to walk over to us.

Leichter walked over to me.

"I'll try to help you, Seto. Whatever I can do, I'll try my best to help."

I nodded.

"If you can prove to me that you can pay me back with twice the amount of money, then I'll know that you're truly capable to be running Kaiba Corporation. You're dismissed." Gozaburo said as he got up from his end of the table. He walked out of the room.

I got up from the table and Mokuba followed me, as did Leichter.

"I don't want to wait a whole year. Let's try today." I said.

"But sir-!" Leichter began to speak. I cut him off.

"Leichter, this'll be tough...and I know just the way on how I can do this." I replied, turning around to look at him.

Leichter nodded.

I walked down the hallway and made my way to Noah's room. I was just in time as well, as he had just opened the door to his room as soon as Leichter, Mokuba, and I were outside of his room.

"Noah, can I use your computer for a moment?" I asked.

Noah nodded quickly and walked out of the room. I'd also be confused if I were him.

I pulled up google chrome and typed in the place we were gonna go to in the search bar.

"There. We'll go here." I said, pointing at the screen. I turned around to Leichter and Mokuba. They were looking at the screen. I got out of the way so they could see better.

They leaned towards the computer screen. After they finished, they both turned to me and nodded.

I exited off the tab and walked back out. Noah was waiting for us.

"You can use it now." I said.

"Did you do everything you had to do?"

I nodded. Noah walked back in his room and closed the door behind him.

We walked outside and got into the limo as Leichter drove in the driver's seat. I told him the route we had to drive on in order to get to our destination. It was also another orphanage for kids where they could live peacefully, like the one Mokuba and I stayed at for a while.

Except ours wasn't always peaceful.

Soon, we rolled into the parking lot.

"Is this the place?" Leichter asked.

"Yeah, this is it." I said.

We got out of the car and walked inside. We walked all the way up to the manager's room.

"Hey, you!" I shouted, pointing at him once we opened the door. The manager stood up and turned around in his seat.

"If you don't pay me twice the amount of ten million dollars, I'm going to force you to shut down this orphanage." I said.

"Please don't do that!" The manager pleaded.

"I will!"

"FINE! I'll give you the money!"

It took a while, but the manager gave me all the money I needed, and a little more. We turned around and walked out after that.

On my way out, I noticed some kids were giving me some confused looks. They were probably wondering what I was doing here since I didn't live in this place like they did.

But either way, they didn't bother me.

With the extra money, I bought a purple trenchcoat which I kept open, and a gray briefcase. When we got home, I told Gozaburo what happened and he believed me.

But was Gozaburo shocked about what happened, you might ask?

Yes he was.

Maybe astonished is more like it.

Noah told me about what Gozaburo was working on and showed it to me, but it was only a quick sneak peek because he said he didn't know what would happen if Gozaburo caught us sneaking in there. Because of that, I didn't think much of it since I didn't get to see much of it.

But after that day, Gozaburo spent more time in that Virtual World room. I wonder what's in there...?

Maybe I'll get a good look at what's in that room for real someday.

I didn't know that it would happen sooner than I thought it would.

_End chapter_


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Plotting Against Gozaburo

You know what? I couldn't sleep. Today was my birthday, and even though we celebrated it one day early, today was my REAL birthdate, and it wasn't how a birthday should be at all.

That was why I was drawing plans on paper.

Yes, Gozaburo was still here, but I barely see him unless he's watching me study. I already showed him that I'm capable of running this company thanks to what happened earlier, but all he knows is that I'm very smart.

But plans for what, you might ask?

Plans to kick Gozaburo out of his company. I was seriously tired of all that "education" now.

But for every plan I thought of, none worked.

I crumpled the plan I had just thought of that wouldn't work and placed it to my side. I set my pencil down before leaning away from my desk and sighing. Not only was I tired of the education, but I was literally tired, too.

"Every plan I think of, none work. There's gotta be something I can think of!" I said. I looked at the clock on my desk. It read eleven thirty one.

I spun around in my chair and got up.

"I guess I'll go to bed now. It's pretty late. Maybe I can think of something by the time morning comes." I said. I started getting changed for bed.

Once I finished with that, I laid down on my bed, closed my eyes, and soon, I was asleep.  
**************  
When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a place that was unfamiliar to me. I noticed that I was older again.

But even though I was older again, something told me I wouldn't be acting any differently.

"Where am I? What is this place?" I said as I looked around a gray void. Due to it being just a gray void, I guess it couldn't even be considered a place.

"Seto, I'm so glad you and Mokuba didn't get separated. You've done a good job with protecting him. You've always been there for him, no matter what the situation was. Thank you for being a good big brother and continuing to be a good big brother after I died. You're kind of like a Father to him." Said a familiar voice from behind me.

I turned around. I didn't want to believe it, but I did.

"Mom?" I said.

"Yes. It's me, Seto." She said as she smiled at me.

Instead of wearing that hospital gown she died in, my Mom was wearing a white long sleeved shirt that basically covered her. I guess it was a dress. She was wearing black pants underneath and she was barefoot. Her hair was down and it wasn't messy. Her blue eyes looked as beautiful as they always were.

"Are you two doing okay?" My Mom asked.

"Well, I guess you could say that we're doing okay. Our new Dad isn't great." I replied.

My Mother frowned, but then she smiled.

"I see you two have a new brother. What's he like?"

"He's nice." I said.

My Mother smiled again. She seems to be smiling a lot now that we're talking to each other.

But then again, I am as well. I remember she would smile a lot at home. Maybe Mokuba smiles so much because he gets that from Mom.

"That's good." She said as she walked closer to me. I stepped back.

"It's okay, honey. It's me, your Mother. Don't worry. You can come closer." My Mom said.

So I did.

But instead of walking closer, I ran to my Mom. I hugged her.

"Mom...I missed you a lot after your death. I don't miss you as much, but I still do sometimes. Mokuba misses you a lot." I said.

"I miss you two boys as well. Trust me, I still want to be with you, and so does your Father. But we can't, and you both know why."

I nodded.

"Yes. We haven't forgotten."

My Mom smiled and released me from the embrace. I slowly stepped back and she looked me over, remarking how big I've gotten.

But she wasn't here, was she? She was dead. I saw how she died. She couldn't be here.

But dreams are dreams. I was older and she was alive.

"You didn't forget about me either, did you?" Said another voice that also sounded somewhat familiar, but I couldn't imagine the face. I turned around to see who the voice belonged to.

"Dad?"

"Yup! Hey there, son. Haven't seen you in a while. I'm sorry we passed away so soon."

"Dad..."

I ran to him and hugged him. He hugged me back.

My Dad eventually released me and walked over to my Mother, soon standing beside her. He was wearing a sleeveless white shirt and navy blue shorts. He wore black sneakers. I recognized the outfit.

It was the same outfit he was wearing in the picture I had of me, Mokuba, and my Mom.

"We both miss you, Seto." He said.

"I still miss you both, but not as much as I did." I said.

My Mom just smiled.

"Is it because you're working on running that company now?" She asked.

"Yeah, that's why." I said.

We all walked closer to each other and sat down on the ground. We began talking to each other and catching up on life.

I know it was just a dream, but this dream had to do with my dead parents. Because of that, I wanted to spend as much time as I could with them. Besides, it had to do with my Dad as well. He worked so much that I barely remember any of what his personality was like.

"Hey Dad, how did you die?" I asked.

"I died in a car crash. I was so tired that day that I didn't look where I was going and I ended up crashing into another car. The person in the car I had crashed into was fine, but I wasn't." He explained.

"But you look fine." I said.

"Ha ha! That's because this is a dream, kid. Besides, I lost a lot of blood from the deep scars I received that day, which is why I died. That's why I look a bit scarred up."

I looked at his arms and his legs. He actually _did _look a bit scarred up now that he mentioned it, but they didn't look so bad.

"What about you, Mom?" I asked.

"I've been good, Honey. I'm sorry I died the way I did and left you boys to go to that orphanage."

"It's okay. We don't miss you so much anymore. We made a friend there."

"Brandon, right?" My Mother asked.

"He seemed pretty nice." My Father said. I nodded.

"That's because he was nice."

"What about those other kids you met in that cave in that game of hide and seek?" My Dad asked.

I didn't know them very well, so I just shrugged. But I could still remember that their names were Yugi, Téa, Joey, Tristan, and Joey's little sister Serenity.

"How's Mokuba doing, dear?" Mom asked.

"He's good. He seems to be much happier than me." I replied.

After we talked some more, we all stood up.

"Seto, do you know why we're communicating with you through this dream?" My Father asked.

I shook my head.

"We know how horribly your new Father has been treating you. We have a plan for you to take him down." My Mother said.

"Take him down? You mean as in kicking him out of his own company?"

My parents nodded.

"Of course! You've been treated so badly by this man." My Dad said.

"He shouldn't even be a Father with how badly he's been treating you." My Mother said.

That made me laugh, but it sounded almost psychotic. Not exactly psychotic, just...different.

"Ha ha ha! True!" I said.

My parents smiled.

"So you've finally managed to laugh? That's good, dear. You haven't laughed ever since this man known as Gozaburo Kaiba took you and Mokuba in. It makes me happy to see you so buoyant after a joke." My Mother said.

"Yeah! I really needed that. Thanks, Mom." I said with another smile.

My Mom's smile grew wider.

"Of course, sweetie."

"Hey Seto, do you still beat people up?" My Dad asked.

"I can't do that so much anymore, but if I saw someone picking on Mokuba, then I wouldn't hesitate. And besides, I would beat someone up for a good reason. I don't just beat up anyone I see."

"I see. That's good. What if you saw people picking on Noah?"

"I'd beat them up too." I said.

My parents looked at each other and smiled, and then they looked back at me. My Dad walked over to me.

"So do you wanna get stronger?"

I nodded.

My Dad put his arms up as if shielding himself.

"C'mon, Seto. Try kicking me and punching me as best as you can. Come on. I'll try blocking your attacks."

I nodded and threw a punch at him. My Dad dodged it.

"That was a pretty powerful punch! Try again!"

So I punched him again as best as I could. My Dad blocked it instead of dodging it.

"Pretty good!" Dad said.

I started punching him more than once. My Dad blocked my attacks. I eventually started to kick him as best as I could, and I did high and low kicks. I eventually tackled him, and my Dad blocked that, too. He took his arms down and I caught my breath.

_"I want to try out my new Blue Eyes. Do I have my deck with me?" _I thought.

Something changed in my pants pocket. I reached my hand down into my right pants pocket and gripped my deck. I took it out. My parents could see it now.

"Let's duel. I got some cards the other day and I wanna test 'em out." I said.

"I don't know how, Seto. Sorry." My Mom said.

"I played _Duel Monsters _with my coworkers at work, but I haven't played it in a long time so I'm gonna be a little rusty." My Dad said.

"It's okay. Since it's a dream, we can duel however we want." I said.

"Fine with me."

My Dad and I walked away from each other and turned around, facing each other now.

"I'll go first! I summon Saggi the Dark Clown, place a card face down, and end my turn!" I said. I held my card out. My monster popped out of his card and was facing my Dad. I looked at the rest of the cards in my hand.

I had all three Blue Eyes in my hand. I also had my new Crush Card Virus card in my hand.

"I'll summon Kuriboh in defense mode and end my turn." My Dad said.

"I summon Battle Ox in attack mode and I attack your Kuriboh!" I said.

Battle Ox attacked Kuriboh. Due to being in defense mode, my Dad didn't lose any life points.

"I play Swords of Revealing Light! I end my turn. Your monsters can't attack for three more turns!" My Dad said. I grinned.

"Alright! I sacrifice my Saggi the Dark Clown to play my trap, Crush Card virus!" I said, pulling my new card out.

Taking effect, a purple, misty-looking type of gas enveloped my Dad's cards.

"What does that do?" My Dad asked, a puzzled look on his face as he watched the purple gas finishing enveloping around his cards. The gas disappeared.

"It crushes your powerful monsters, leaving you with weak monsters! You won't be able to summon any strong monsters, Dad!" I said with a grin.

"Oh? Is that so?" My Dad asked.

I nodded.

"And now I'll end my turn." I said.

I had two turns left now.

"My turn. I draw!" He said. He sighed.

"I drew my Battle Ox. I can't use it." He said, putting it in his pocket. He put a hand to his deck.

"I'll just draw again! What's this card? Oh, it's weak. I summon Muka Muka in attack mode and I'll have it attack your life points!"

Muka Muka rushed at me. When it attacked, I was left with 3400 life points.

One more turn left and I'll be able to attack.

"I end my turn." My Dad said.

"Not a bad move at all, Dad!" I said.

"Thanks, son! Your move."

"I know. I sacrifice my Battle Ox and Enraged Battle Ox to summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

My Battle Ox and Enraged Battle Ox faded away and a Blue Eyes appeared.

"I end my turn." I said.

The swords disappeared from my monsters.

"Looks like the spell wore off. I summon Ameba in attack mode I'll have it attack your life points directly!" He said.

Ameba rushed at me. My 3400 life points dropped to 3100.

Now it was my turn.

"Now, Blue Eyes! Use your white lightning attack to take down his two monsters!"

A white lightning beam came from my Blue Eyes' mouth and hit both of his monsters. His monsters began to fade away until they were completely gone.

My Dad's two monsters went down as he lost some life points.

"I end my turn. Your move, Dad." I said.

"Alright. I summon Bat in defense mode and end my turn."

_"I know this is just a dream, but I never thought that my Dad would have so many weak monsters in his deck. Oh well. My Crush card Virus already took effect, so I guess he doesn't have a choice."_ I thought.

"My move!" I said, taking a card out of my deck.

"I summon X-Head Cannon in attack mode! X-Head Cannon, attack his Bat!"

I beam came out of my monster's cannon and hit my Dad's monster.

"Now, Blue Eyes! Use your white lightning attack and attack him one more time!" I said.

Another white beam formed in the mouth of my Blue Eyes' and aimed it at my Dad. The powerful beam streamed out of its mouth and enveloped my Dad, wiping out the remainder of his life points.

My monsters disappeared as my Dad sat on the floor. That attack must've been hard on him.

After he regained his composure, he stood up.

"I knew you'd win, son!" My Dad said, walking over to me. We high fived.

"Thanks. I dueled people sometimes in the orphanage but I also played chess against Mokuba a lot and always won. So...a little rusty, huh?" I said.

"Alright, alright. I'm _very _rusty." My Dad said.

I grinned. My Mom walked back over to us.

Then something popped into my head. Didn't my parents say something about Gozaburo earlier?

Oh, that's right! I remembered what my parents said about kicking Gozaburo out of his company. That's what they wanted to tell me about.

"So anyway, now that that's all over with, what's the plan to throw Gozaburo out of his company?" I asked.

My parents walked closer to me.

"We'll tell you." They said.

They leaned up-well, Mom did, and almost Dad-and whispered the plan in my ear.

"I got it. Thanks, Mom and Dad." I said.

My parents hugged me.

My Mom and Dad released me from the embrace. They walked away from me and stood side by side.

"Now that you know how to kick Gozaburo out, we've taken up enough of your time, Seto." My Mother said.

"Wait...Mom, are you saying that-"

"-That we have to leave? Yes, Seto, she is."

"But I want to stay with you!" I said. The warmness I felt inside my body earlier began to fade. It had lingered there for a while after they had hugged me. Now that they told me that they had to go, it made the feeling fade.

"So do we, Seto. But we can't stay here any longer. Everyone's dreams end. It's time this dream comes to an end."

The bodies of my parents began to fade.

"Seto, I know I've said this before, but I love you." My Mother said.

"So do I. I love both you and your little brother." My Dad said.

Soon, I could only see their necks.

"We love you both, and don't you ever forget that." My parents said in unison. They completely faded out of my sight.

I looked down at the ground. Tears rolled down my face and dripped onto the gray ground.

"I...bye, Mom and Dad." I said as I looked into the grayness and wiped my tears away.

At that moment, I woke up in bed. I sat up, staring down at my bed sheets.

Tears hadn't fallen in real life, and I wasn't even close.

"Hey, Mom, Dad...thanks to both of you for being my parents." I said. I smiled sadly as I remembered the dream.

I knew Mokuba and I would be happier if our parents were still alive, but there was no use in thinking about it.

I crossed my arms and laid back down in bed, frowning and still thinking about the dream I had.

After I had that dream, I couldn't get back to sleep. I tried comfortable positions and tried to stop thinking about the dream.

I ended up staying up until morning rolled around. I got dressed at around ten o' clock. I walked out of my room and walked to Mokuba's room.

He wasn't there.

I began walking around the mansion.

I was trying to find Mokuba. I had to tell him something important. I ended up hiding in a corner.

I saw Mokuba walking down the hallway my corner was in.

"Mokuba. Psst, Mokuba!" I said, peering at him from around a corner.

My parents were right. I really _was_ getting tired of Gozaburo commanding us, especially me, around the place.

What were we, trash? No, kids!

It was too tiring.

It had to stop.

"What is it, Seto?" Mokuba asked, noticing me in the corner and walking over to me.

"Do you like our stepfather?" I asked.

"Not really. Why?"

"I have a plan to get rid of him."

Mokuba's eyes widened.

"Do you mean to KILL him!?"

I facepalmed.

"No, of course not! Why would I wanna kill him? I mean, sure, he's a rude old man, but he still gave us a home. Besides, if we killed him, it could be spread all over the news or something."

"Ah...true. So what did you mean, Seto?" Mokuba asked.

"All I meant was to kick him out of the company." I responded.

"Oh, okay. That makes sense." Mokuba said. He walked closer to me.

"What's the plan?" He asked.

Since Mokuba was close to me, I leaned over and whispered the plan in his ear.

"For a few days, try getting as close to Gozaburo as you can. When those-"

"But I don't like Gozaburo, big brother!" Mokuba said.

I narrowed my eyes.

"You didn't let me finish, Mokuba."

"Oh. Sorry. Finish up."

"Anyway, when those days end and on the day the plan starts, I'll be in my room. Meet me in there." I whispered.

Mokuba nodded and grinned.

"Alright, got it. I'll search for Gozaburo now!"

After he said that, Mokuba turned around and ran off, leaving me in the corner.

I widened my eyes, stopped bending over, crossed my arms, and grinned.

"This'll work. I know it will."

Satisfied with myself and already thinking of how the plan would play out, I walked into my room. I walked over to my window and looked into the sky.

_"Thanks for the plan, Mom and Dad." _I thought.

I know that it was technically all a dream and that I guess the plan did belong to me, but still. I did want to escape Gozaburo's control, and I guess the stress of it all made me have that dream somehow, but told to me by my parents instead of me already planning something out.

I probably never would have thought of that plan if it weren't for that dream, and even if I didn't have that dream, it still might have taken a while for me to think of something even if it was the same plan.

Little did I know that it would work even better than I thought it would.

_End chapter_


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: The Day That Changed Gozaburo

It was about two days after I had told Mokuba about the plan on how to overthrow Gozaburo.

Mokuba did just as I had asked. He was currently spending his days getting as close to Gozaburo as he could. He was doing a **_very _**good job at it. It seemed like Gozaburo began to actually like him and not think of him as a brat.

I was outside of my room on the balcony, my hands on the railing.

I closed my eyes as I played out the entire plan in my head once again.

_"Make __Mokuba__ get as close to __Gozaburo__ as he can get. After a few days, set cards down in your room. Remember to tell __Mokuba__ that it was an act before that. Remind him if you need to. Throw him across the room, but not so hard that he thinks you're being mean to him for real. If __Gozaburo__ proposes how to run the company, __Mokuba__ acts like he's gonna give it to __Gozaburo__ when he's really giving it to you."_ I thought.

Was that it? I replayed the dream in my head.

I guess that was all.

I remembered the duel I had against my Dad. I smiled.

"That was pretty cool. I wonder if that type of dueling's actually gonna happen someday." I said.

I remembered every part I could. I was about eighteen in that dream, but it was still nice to see my parents again.

"Seto! Dinner's almost ready but I was just wondering if we could have a duel while we were waiting for dinner to finish up." Mokuba said from behind me. I turned around to see him already sitting on the floor.

"Oh! Yeah, sure." I said, sitting down across from him after I closed the balcony doors.

Mokuba smiled as he took his card deck out of his pocket. We started organizing our card decks.

"So what were you punching and kicking out there, Seto?" Mokuba asked.

"Just remembering part of a dream I had, Mokuba."

"Okay." Mokuba said.

We each had six cards in our hands. Mokuba went first.

"My turn! I summon Man Eating Plant in defense mode and end my turn!" Mokuba said, placing a card down.

My turn now.

"My turn! I summon Battle Ox and attack your Man Eating plant!" I said, placing it down. Mokuba took his card and put it next to him.

"I take no damage, you know."

"I know."

Mokuba didn't respond.

He placed another card down.

"Now I summon Krokodilus in defense mode and end my turn!"

_"Is this all he's got?"_

"Battle Ox, attack his Krokodilus!"

Mokuba placed his Krokodilus to his side.

"And next, I'll play-" Mokuba's voice was cut off by another voice.

"Sorry to interrupt, boys, but it's dinner time."

"Okay." We said as we gathered our cards and stood up.

After that, Mokuba and I walked out of my room and down the hallway to the dining room as we followed our butler.

_"Well, maybe we can finish that duel some other time."_ I thought.

While eating, I noticed that Gozaburo seemed happy.

Yeah, a surprise, I know. I looked at Mokuba. He grinned at me. I gave him a thumbs up.

I noticed Noah looking at me and Mokuba with a very confused look on his face.

"I might tell you about this someday." I whispered.

"Okay, I guess." He said, still confused.

Well, if you were wondering, Mokuba and I never did finish that duel.  
*************  
**I had a bunch of Duel Monsters cards in front of me that day. It was now a few days later after I had told Mokuba about how we could overthrow Gozaburo out of his company.

It was exactly like the plan my parents had told me about in my dream. I made sure that I followed every step they told me.

The big five were in my room, and so was Mokuba.

But Gansley, a man of the big five, wasn't in my room with us. He must have been with Gozaburo.

It took me quite a while in order to get this plan of mine perfect.

Mokuba walked over to me.

"Does the plan start now?" He whispered.

"Yes."

I turned to the cards, walked over to one, knelt down, and I flipped that card over, signaling that our plot to throw Gozaburo Kaiba out of his own company had started.

"I'm sure we'll live nicely here." I said, standing up.

Mokuba walked closer to me. He had that uncomfortable look on his face-just like he was supposed to.

"Um, Seto...?"

I looked down at him.

"What is it, Mokuba?"

"I-I've been spending a lot of time with Gozaburo lately..." Mokuba said timidly. For a little kid, his acting was pretty good.

I got up, with anger written on my face, and stared at Mokuba. Of course, I wasn't actually mad at him. It was all part of the plan.

"You what?!" I said.

"I-I said I was spending a lot of time with our stepfather..." Mokuba backed up unsteadily when he said this. He stared up at me with fear.

Was Mokuba actually scared of me now? I sure hoped that he was still acting.

But after all, he was seven at the time so his acting might have actually turned into fear.

I grabbed him by the shirt collar and threw him against the wall.

"You traitor! How dare you! Get out of my sight!"

Mokuba was slammed against the wall and fell down. He _did_ look hurt...but I didn't mean to throw him against the wall THAT hard.

I continued to wear a frown on my face.

Then the door opened and Gansley walked over to me.

"Your stepfather wants you. He's waiting outside of your room."

I nodded.

"Right. I'm coming."

I followed Gansley, with Mokuba and the other members of the big five behind me, down the hall. We reached the third floor of the colossal mansion by climbing up the stairs.

We walked over to two doors in the middle of the hallway.

Gozaburo was the one who opened it, and we stepped inside.

Gozaburo took his seat, sitting in the same seat he sat in on my birthday.

In that case, I walked over to the end of the large table and sat down in the seat I had sat in that day, now vertically across from Gozaburo once again. Mokuba stood next to me.

The big five stood behind Gozaburo. The room had sunlight spilling through it from all the windows in the room, so it was pretty luminous in there.

"Seto, I was thinking about something." Gozaburo said.

"What?"

"Maybe you shouldn't run KaibaCorp after all."

That just angered me.

_"Oh, come ON! Make your mind up already, old man!" _I thought.

"What?! Why?" Is what came out of my mouth.

"Well, it's not really fair to Noah. Besides, we both have forty nine percent of the company. Maybe we can work together somehow-unless I get two percent of the company to outrule you, Seto!" Gozaburo said.

"Sure thing!" Mokuba said.

I gasped when Mokuba said that.

_"__He's choosing __Gozaburo__ over me!?"_

I was still astonished when Mokuba treaded over to me.

"I'm giving my two percent to Seto!" He said, grinning triumphantly.

"But how?! He hurt you, didn't he?!" Gozaburo said.

"I'm always loyal to Seto, so I'd never betray him! We've been through things with each other thick and thin. I trust him-and our stepbrother, Noah!" Mokuba said.

I stood up and placed an arm around Mokuba's neck and held him close, grinning at Gozaburo.

Gozaburo got up from his seat.

"You...you rotten children!" He walked out of the room briskly. The big five followed.

"C'mon. Let's go, Mokuba." I got up from my seat and started walking out of the room. When I reached the doors, Noah came in and stared at me vacantly.

"You...are you...?" Noah looked at me. He couldn't find the right words.

I nodded.

"Yeah, Noah, I'll be running KaibaCorp now."

When I said that, Noah ran to me and high fived me. I returned it.

After that, he gave me a pat on the shoulder. He took his hand off my shoulder and grinned at me.

"Good! I'm sure we'll be much happier with you running the place!" Noah said in a jovial tone.

I nodded.

"I'll try. But I don't think I'll be as harsh as Gozaburo."

Noah nodded.

"Yeah. I'm sure you'll be strict, but not the Gozaburo kind of strict." He said.

"Don't worry, Noah. Seto's got it all under control!" Mokuba said, smiling. He held a thumb up at Noah and winked.

Noah looked down at Mokuba, held a thumb up, and winked as well.

"Well, let's go." I said. I couldn't help but smile.

My parent's plan had worked. Sure, I was the one who carried out the plan, but **_they _**were truly the masterminds behind it, weren't they?

Noah and Mokuba nodded. We walked down the hallways until we reached the first floor.

We stopped when we saw Gozaburo walk into that virtual world room at the end of the hallway.

He never came back out after that day.

In the present, I remembered how I kicked Gozaburo Kaiba out of his own company. I crossed my arms and started laughing.

I finally stopped and just stared out the window of my room.

Yeah, you can tell how much Gozaburo messed me up.

"I guess that was checkmate, Gozaburo." I said as I put my hands in the pockets of my black pants.

"Seto, are you okay?" Noah asked from behind me. I turned around to him and nodded.

"Yes, Noah. I'm just fine." I said.

Noah walked out of the room. I sat back down at my desk.

What I remember next is how KaibaCorp started to change me.

Ready?

Let's go.

_End __chapter_


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Seto's The Runner Of KaibaCorp Now!

**Noah's POV**  
Seto knows how to run KaibaCorp quite well. I'm impressed.

Although I was upset about my Father's decision before and had eventually gotten over it, now I can see why Father thought he fit the job better than I did. His intelligence is probably even higher than mine.

By that, I meant Seto, not my Father. But then again, who knows with the three of us? Oh, but Mokuba could actually be smarter than we think.

A few days after Seto began running KaibaCorp, he enrolled us into Domino city's middle school, but he enrolled Mokuba in Domino city's elementary school.

What grade?

1st grade.

Yup.

1st grade. Hey, he could have been in the second grade, but we missed the deadline.

And if you were wondering, Seto currently runs KaibaCorp in my Father's office. He runs it using a computer.

It starts tomorrow for all of us. He told me he did this to give us normal education.

I mean, we'd need it.

"So Seto, why did you decide to enroll us into a school, anyway?" I asked.

Mokuba, Seto and I were in Seto's office. Seto was working on something for KaibaCorp and Mokuba wanted to give Seto a little break.

"What should we do for the rest of the day?" Mokuba asked, looking at Seto and I.

"I don't know, Mokuba. Do you want to see the virtual room? I want to see the inside of it." I suggested.

Seto started to walk away.

"Thanks but no thanks. I have work to do." He said.

I peered at him from over his desk and laid both hands on it.

"It won't take long. You can get right back to your work afterwards, Seto. I promise."

Seto glanced at me and went right back to his work.

"Seto?" I asked.

Seto stood up from his desk.

"Fine, Noah, as long as this doesn't take too long. I've been wanting to see what it looks like anyway." Seto said.

"Mission accomplished!" Mokuba said as he pumped a fist into the air.

"I know what it looks like. Well, a little bit of it. I've taken some sneak peeks at it here and there, but I haven't completely taken one step fully into the room to see what it even looks like because Father would always be in there. This should be interesting." I said.

"You've seen a little bit of it?" Mokuba asked.

I nodded.

"So then can you show us the room now?" Seto asked curiously with a hint of impatience in his voice.

I replied with a simple nod.

"Yes, I can."

"Well, let's go then." Seto said.

"Okay. Follow me." I said.

We walked out of the room and back down to the second floor, and then to the first floor. Mokuba tagged along.

I walked over to the end of the hallway and opened the door to the Virtual World room. I stepped inside and so did Seto and Mokuba.

Everything looked pleasant now that my dad was gone, but that could have just been me thinking it was pleasant. The room certainly didn't look like it had changed at all.

I noticed the capsules.

The completed capsules. There were a lot of them. There were ten capsules when I counted them.

I walked up to one and rested my hand on the cool, metal glass. The capsules were gray, except for the clear glass.

"Hey, what's this, Noah?" Seto asked. He was pointing to a computer TV screen in the middle of the room. It was on, filled with static.

I walked over next to him.

"That's to check what's going on in the Virtual World. It's like a game. This screen lets you know what the player in the Virtual World is doing and where they are." I said.

"Oh." Seto said while looking at me.

"Yeah. Well, there's not a lot left that we need to see in here since this is basically it." I said. I turned to Seto and Mokuba.

"Are we done here?" I asked.

Seto nodded.

"I'd say so. This was cool after all. Thanks, Noah."

Mokuba nodded and smiled.

"Yeah! Thanks, Noah!"

Seto grinned and rubbed his head.

"You're welcome. Let's go." I said.

We walked out of the door. I heard Seto's rapid footsteps walk down the hall. I guess he really did have a lot of work to do, then.

I turned around to close the door, but I took another peek into the room. I walked over to the TV and stared up at it.

_"Who turned it on?"_ I thought.

I don't get why I feel like this, but something wasn't right. That TV shouldn't have been on. Maybe someone turned it on and accidentally forgot to turn it off. But who, I wonder?

Maybe the butler.

Either way, I looked down at the keyboard that was connected to the TV. I pressed on the shutdown button and looked at the TV.

It was now turned off. I turned around to walk out.

While I was closing the door behind me, I still felt the presence of my Father Gozaburo somewhere in that room. Maybe it was because of how often he was in there.

I closed the door after looking into the room for another minute. Then I turned around and walked down the hallway. Seto and Mokuba were no where to be seen.

That was when I saw him.

My Father walked up to me.

"What were you doing in there, Noah?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just checking things out." I said.

My Father raised a brow. I began to get a little anxious. I couldn't tell him that I let Seto and Mokuba in there. What would he do to them? To us?

Then my Father put his hands behind his back.

"Have you seen Crump, Gansley, Johnson, Nezbitt, and Leichter today, Noah?"

"I think they're all in their meeting room."

"Go get them for me. I need to discuss something with them." My Father said. He walked past me and down the hall.

I watched him walk down the hall. Surprisingly, he didn't go into the Virtual World room.

I walked off to get the big five. When I finally walked into their room, it looked like they were discussing something.

They stopped whatever it was that they were talking about and looked at me.

"Oh, it's just you, mister Noah Kaiba. What is it?" Nezbitt asked.

"Father said he wanted to discuss something with all of you." I replied.

The big five got up from their seats. I led them down the hall and into the room that my Father had walked into.

"He's in here."

"Did he say what he wanted to talk to us about?" Gansley asked.

"No. I guess it's really important then." I said.

The big five walked into the room. The last one in, which was Leichter, closed the door behind him.

I stared at the door for a few seconds before turning around and walking away to my bedroom.

"Well, at least I know that my Father is still here." I said.

_End chapter_

**Happy birthday, Seto!**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Noah's Calling

After Seto walked out of the room and I had checked it for a few minutes after he walked out, I closed the door behind me.

Seto wasn't close or waiting for me. After I eventually caught up to him, I walked through the halls with him and eventually arrived in the living room.

Mokuba was already there. He was playing with some toys. They were three airplanes. He was playing with one while the other two were just sitting by his side.

He saw us walking into the room and smiled at us.

"Hello, big bros! Wanna play?" He asked, holding up two planes to us once we had walked over to him.

I smiled.

"Sure!" I said.

Seto walked away. He stopped and turned his head to us.

"Sorry, little brother. Maybe next time. I've got too much work to do." Seto said.

Mokuba looked a little sad, but he smiled at me.

"So then do you wanna play with me, Noah?"

"Sure, Mokuba." I said.

I sat down and grabbed a plane, but then our soon to be play time was interrupted by our butler.

"It's dinner time, boys." He said. We got up, walked out of the living room, and transitioned into the dining room.

We sat down at the table and sat in the seats that we normally would sit in. We already had food on our plates, so we started eating.

Seto was already there. I guess the butler told him earlier or something.

While eating, I noticed it was very quiet.

It was almost unsettling.

"So, Gozaburo's gone for good, right?" Mokuba asked, breaking the silence. Seto turned to him and nodded slowly.

"Yeah. He's been in the Virtual World room for a while now, but there's a chance he might've left today when we weren't looking. I haven't seen him anywhere." Seto said suddenly.

"Actually, I saw him earlier today." I said.

"You did?" Mokuba asked.

"So what happened?" Seto asked.

"Well, he asked me if the big five were around, so I told him they were and he told me that he wanted to talk to them and told me to go get them. So I did."

"Then what?" Mokuba asked.

"That's it." I said.

"Oh." Seto and Mokuba said in unison.

We nodded and so did Mokuba. We continued eating after that. Then something that happened a few days ago came into my mind.

"Oh yeah! Why did my Father act happy for a few days one time and Mokuba grinned at you and you thumbed up? Remember what I mean? You looked at me and whispered to me that you might tell me about it someday, Seto." I said, looking up from my plate and looking at him.

"Oh, right. That. I had come up with a plan on how to overthrow Gozaburo and you looked confused. That's why that happened." He explained.

"Oh." I said with a nod.

I thought Seto mumbled something else after his explanation.

But since he mumbled it, I assumed he didn't want to talk about it.

It was quiet for about a minute or so after that until Seto finished eating.

He got up, put his plate in the sink, and quickly rinsed it. After that, he headed towards the door.

"Seto, you're not going to stay?" I asked.

Seto turned around to face me.

"No, Noah. I have a company to run now. It can't run by itself without someone to run it." He said.

He turned around and opened the door. He walked out and the door closed behind him.

I looked at Mokuba. He stared at the door.

"Noah," Mokuba said, turning to me. "Is Seto never gonna have time for us anymore?" He asked.

I wanted to assure him that everything would be alright, but I couldn't even be too sure now. Maybe Seto would never have time for us, and if he wasn't busy, then little time for us.

"Well, Mokuba, I'm not sure. I think we'll just have to let everything play out. On the bright side, at least he talked to us while eating dinner. It was always an awkward silence between my Father and I until one of us decided to speak." I said.

Mokuba just nodded. I smiled, not knowing what else to say.

After that, we both finished eating in silence.

The food we had been eating was filet mignon with foie gras sauce, and by the look in Seto's eye, I'm sure it had become one of his favorite foods.

When we finished eating, we took our plates to the sink, rinsed them, put them in the dishwasher, closed the dishwasher, and walked out of the dining room. I put Seto's plate in the dishwasher while I was at it.

After we walked out of the dining room, we all walked to our rooms.

_"Everything is so quiet now." _I thought as I walked out of the dining room. I walked through the mansion and looked down each hallway for at least some sight of someone walking around.

I barely saw anyone except for the butler from time to time.

I walked to my room and laid down on my bed. I stared up at the ceiling. While I looked up at the ceiling, I began to feel tired. I got up from the bed and walked over to my dresser.

"If I'm tired, there's no need to be awake, now is there?" I asked myself. I got changed for bed in my light teal pijama's.

I laid back down on my bed and pulled the sheets over me. Before I knew it, I was asleep.  
**LATER**  
When I was dreaming, it was fun.

At first.

Before the strange part happened, I was older and dueling someone, but I was using a dueling card I had never seen before and one I never used.

As far as I know, I was in a dueling tournament or something. At least that's what it looked like since it looked like I was in a huge arena with a light brown wall surrounding me and my opponent.

I was wearing something around my left arm, too. It was a weird device. I had a card deck in it. I guess I'll call this device a Duel Disk for now.

Not only that, but I looked older. It was like I was eighteen now or something.

From what I could tell, it looked like there wasn't much of a duel left. It looked like the person had at least 3000 life points left, maybe less.

As for me, I had about 3800 life points.

As for my monster I was currently using, it was called Amber Crystal Mammoth or something like that. It could speak, emit weird battle cries, and let me tell you that this monster was overall just a weird monster.

It sounded like...what's his name...oh, right. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"NOAH, YOU WANT ME TO CRUSH THIS STICK MAN?" It asked me.

Somehow, I didn't laugh and nodded.

My Mammoth turned to my opponent and started running at him, yelling cries that sounded like "ARGARAGARAGRA!"

**_BAM!_**

"I reveal my face down card, a monster in attack mode! Go, Big Shield Gardna!"

Whoever I was dueling dodged the attack and summoned a monster in attack mode that was face down on the field. The monster disappeared.

My Mammoth returned to my side. The person started to draw a card.

"I summon Acorno in attack mode and end my turn!" The person said, summoning an acorn-like monster and putting the card in attack mode, making Acorno vulnerable to an attack.

This monster was basically a walking acorn with big green eyes, arms, hands, and even legs and feet.

_"That's one weird monster."_ I thought.

I took a card out from the so called Duel Disk on my arm. I raised the card towards my eyes so I could see it.

I took a quick glance at the card between my fingers. It was a monster. I put it in attack mode on my Duel Disk.

"I summon Chiron the Mage in attack mode! Now Chiron the Mage, attack his Acorno!"

Chiron the Mage attacked Acorno, dealing 1600 damage to my opponent and leaving him with 1400 life points.

"And now I'll have my Crystal Amber Mammoth attack your life points directly! Go, my Mammoth!"

My Crystal Amber Mammoth started running towards my opponent, yelling those strange cries again.

"AGAGAGAGAGAGAGA!"

My Mammoth slammed harshly into my opponent. My opponent's life points were wiped out, allowing me to win the duel.

My monsters disappeared from the field.

The announcer walked over to me and raised my hand in the air.

"Noah Kaiba wins the duel!"

Everyone cheered. I smiled at everyone. When the cheering died down, I turned around and walked through a door. I was back in the lobby.

I walked over to the screen to see who I'd fight next. The person who I had fought had their box blackened and a huge red X scrawled across them.

I looked at my box with my head in it. Someone's box moved towards me. It settled next to my box. I looked at it.

I saw a familiar head of brown hair and blue eyes.

"No way! I have to fight Seto next?!"

"That's right, Noah." Said a voice from behind me. I turned around to see Seto sitting on a bench, his arms crossed and his legs crossed in the box way.

He was older now, and around 18 like me. He was wearing a white, high collared and gray studded trenchcoat and a long sleeved black shirt, two blue belts on each arm, and a Duel Monsters locket around his neck.

He also wore what looked like a green belt with two, small, gray studs on each side and a gray KC symbol in the middle of it, and black pants and shoes with two blue belts close to his ankles on both legs.

"Are you boys ready?" A voice asked from the doorway. It was an announcer.

Seto stood up and stood beside me.

"We're ready." He said.

We walked out of the room and into the same room I was recently in.

We stood on opposite sides of each other.

"Since I just won, I'll go first! I summon Chiron the Mage in defense mode! I'll end my turn." I said.

Chiron spawned onto the field. Seto took a card out from his Duel Disk. He looked at it and placed it on it. On the field spawned a Mosasaur-like monster.

"This is called Megalosmasher X, Noah. Now attack, Megalosmasher X!" Seto said. His Monster attacked mine, but my life points were just fine.

"I end my turn." Seto said.

I pulled a card out of my deck and looked through the cards in my hand. I didn't have any that could stand up to Seto's monsters, so I laid out a monster called Last Tusk Mammoth in defense mode.

"Now I'll lay a card face-down and end my turn." I said.

Seto pulled a card out from his Duel Disk.

"Why Noah, it's almost like you want to lose! I summon Enraged Battle Ox in attack mode! Next, I'll play a card face-down on the field. Now attack his Last Tusk Mammoth, Enraged Battle Ox!" Seto said.

"Nope! I activate Mirror Force! It shields my monster from your attack!" I said.

Last Tusk Mammoth was safe.

For now.

Seto ended his turn. I looked through the cards in my hand.

_"Seriously? No good monsters? I know this is a dream, but still. Hey! This one can do!" _I thought. I noticed a monster in my hand with 1900 attack points. Just two more than Seto's Enraged Battle Ox! I decided to play it.

It was a knight, wearing a green dress, a green cap and long, brown hair.

"Now, Lady Knight, attack his Enraged Battle ox!" I said.

"Not so fast! Now I'll activate **_my _**Mirror Force!" Seto said. His Enraged Battle Ox was protected from Lady Knight's attack.

I ended my turn.

"I'll put a card face-down on the field. Now I summon Small Dragon in attack mode and end my turn."

A small, red, and green eyed dragon with 500 attack points spawned on the field. Something wasn't right. Seto wasn't attacking. Since his Small Dragon was weaker than my Mammoth, I decided to switch it to attack mode.

"Now attack his Small Dragon, Last Tusk Mammoth!"

My Mammoth attacked Seto's Small Dragon and he went down to 3700 life points, but it came back to the field.

"Thanks, Noah! Small Dragon gains 500 attack points for every Dragon card in my hand, and there's two, boosting him up to 1500 attack points points."

I frowned.

"Lady Knight, attack his Small Dragon!"

Seto lost 400 life points, now leaving him with 3300 life points.

It came back.

"Noah, he'll come back stronger and stronger." Seto said.

"I know!"

I was trying to wear him down. I didn't attack him again. He probably had a trap card on the field. I ended my turn.

"Say goodbye to Small Dragon and Enraged Battle Ox, Noah! I summon Blue Eyes White Dragon! Megalosmasher X, attack his Last Tusk Mammoth!"

I was left with 2800, but then I grinned.

"Thanks, Seto! Thanks to my Mammoth's special effect, you lose 800 life points!"

Seto was down to 2500 life points.

"I end my turn." I said

"Megalosmasher X, attack his Lady Knight!"

100 damage dealt. I was left with 2700 life points.

"Now, Blue Eyes, attack with WHITE LIGHTNING ATTACK!"

The rest of my life points were lost. I fell to the floor on my knees.

The announcer walked over to Seto and held his hand in the air.

"Seto Kaiba is the winner!"

But then the scene turned into something else.

Now I was playing a round of Duel Monsters with my stepbrothers in the mansion on the living room floor. I was 12 again. Seto was with Mokuba and I this time. After a minute or so, they stopped playing and just stared at me with these very creepy looks on both of their faces.

I put my card down that was in my hand.

"Why are you guys staring at me like that?" I asked them.

"You need to go to him, Noah." Mokuba said. His eyes narrowed. He didn't look like he was in control anymore.

"Yes...he wants to...talk to you..." Seto said. His eyes also looked narrow. He also didn't look like he was in control anymore.

Both Seto and Mokuba spoke in a monotone voice now. It was like they were robots or something.

"Who needs to talk to me? Snap out of it, guys!" I said. I tried to shake them, but my hand went right through them.

I looked at my hand and then I looked at my stepbrothers. They began disappearing.

Now here comes the weird part.

After they had disappeared, every feature around me began disappearing. The carpet, the cards, the couch, everything. Everything except me. I was still the same. I had absolutely no idea why everything else had disappeared except me.

And then, a gray void engulfed me. I was now trapped in some big, gray world, with no one else except me.

Or so I thought.

"They meant me." Said a familiar voice from the shadows. I looked over at the direction that the voice came from.

I saw a familiar pair of shoes step out from the shadows, accompanied by red pants. Then the figure came into view. It was my Father, and I was standing in front of him.

_"Is this a dream or is this reality?" _I thought. I just couldn't be too sure anymore. I thought it that it might have been a dream, but everything around me seemed so realistic.

He was wearing the clothes I almost always saw him wearing. You know, that red suit with the golden buttons, those red pants, and those same shoes. Even his hair looked the same as it always did. His hands were behind his back.

"Father? Is that really you?" I asked as I continued looking at him.

He nodded, that stern look I always saw still on his face. We were both in a gray void, and that was it. There was nothing else in there with us. Like I said earlier, it was just a gray void.

"I'm still here, Noah." He told me.

That confused me.

"Still here? I know you are, but what do you mean, Father? You mean in this void that we're in?" I asked.

"Just wake up, Noah. Wake up and you'll see what I mean."

I don't know how that got through to me, but I actually did wake up.

I woke up in my bed and looked around my room. No one was there. My bedroom looked the same as it always did.

"That was a weird dream..." I muttered as I laid back down in bed. I wonder if I had that dream for a reason. I think those kind of dreams are called epic dreams. Either that, or I'm getting confused with some other type of dream.

**_"Did you ever think that I appeared for a reason? Was it truly a dream or something more? Noah, it is me. Get out of bed." _**A voice said.

I sat up immediately as soon as I heard the voice.

"Who are you? Are you in my room and I can't see you?" I called out, looking around my room again.

**_"No, I'm not in your room. I'm someone you know and don't like very well. I'm in a room that you know very, very well."_**The voice replied.

It sounded like a man's voice. Definitely not feminine.

I climbed out of bed and stumbled a bit in the darkness.

_"That voice is very familiar..." _I thought. Then my eyes grew wide.

_"No way, that's...is it really who I think it is? But where has he been? If that's who I think it is, I'll find out soon enough."_

And I knew exactly where the voice came from.

That room at the end of the first hall.

The Virtual World room.

As I stumbled out of my room, my eyes got adjusted to the darkness. I didn't bother to shut my door, make the bed, or make it look like I was asleep. I would be back in bed anyway, so I thought there was no point.

I stood there in the dark hallway as I rubbed my eyes. I looked around and soon began to wander around. I soon found myself in the kitchen, accompanied by the butler staring at me.

I guess he was making sure that no one could break into the house. He looked at me and raised a brow in a dubious manner.

"Mister Noah Kaiba?" He asked in somewhat of a curious way.

I nodded.

"It's me, sir."

"Were you about to go to bed or get a drink of water? Couldn't sleep?" The butler asked me.

I nodded.

"Kind of. Well, I was actually just going to check on the Virtual World room. I thought I heard a voice, so I was gonna check that out." I replied.

"Voice...? Well...okay. But be in bed soon." The butler said.

I nodded.

"Sure thing, sir. So why are you also up so late at night?"

"Just checking on the house and making sure everything is locked up for the night." He replied. I nodded.

"Oh."

The butler walked out of the room.

I walked out of the kitchen and walked into another hall. After walking around for a few more minutes, I eventually saw the door that led into the Virtual World room after what seemed like forever.

_"Finally!"_

I pulled on the doorknob, opened the door, and walked into the room. The TV was back on and I saw my Father's face was looming onto the screen. He noticed me when I walked into the room.

_"So then why was the TV was showing static earlier? I guess it was the butler."_

I walked over to it and looked up at his face. His voice was deep and booming now that I was in the room with him. And yes, it was the same TV computer screen from earlier, with the keyboard still underneath it.

"I knew it was your voice, Father." I said up to him.

**_"I'm sure you did, Noah."_**He replied.

"How did you get in there, anyway?" I asked as I raised a brow.

**_"When Seto took over KaibaCorp, I knew I didn't stand a chance. I digitized my mind and uploaded it into this computer in this room. I'm in the Virtual World, Noah. I will rule it...and someday, you and your adoptive stepbrothers will join me."_**Gozaburo said, as if he truly knew that.

"Is that the whole story?"

**_"Yes. Well, in a way. I'll tell you about it some other time." _**Gozaburo replied.

"How?"

**_"Just when I see you again."_**

I shrugged.

"Alright, I guess. And one more thing."

**_"And what's that, Noah?" _**My Father asked me.

"Father, we won't rule the Virtual World with you." I replied. I looked down at the keyboard.

_"A shutdown option! This should shut him up...for a while, at least." _I thought.

**_"You and your stepbrothers will come here someday, Noah. I'm not sure when that will happen, but you and I both know it's true." _**Gozaburo said.

I looked up at my Father.

"No, we won't! I'm telling you that we won't get in there, Father! We'll find a way somehow!"

**_"Noah, you're planning something, correct? Well, stop. It won't help you." _**My Father said as he glared right at me.

"I'm not planning something, and even if I was, we wouldn't know if it would help us!" I said.

I raised my finger and lowered it to the shutdown key.

**_"Noah, are you about to press on the shutdown option?"_**

"Yes."

_"Was that not obvious to him when he can clearly see me and the keyboard in front of him? I guess he just was making sure."_ I thought.

**_"This will only make me go to sleep. You won't know what will come upon you when I come back online someday!" _**He said.

"I don't care, Father. You're nothing to me but a computer program now." I said coldly.

I pushed on the shutdown button and held it down for a few seconds. I took my finger off the keyboard. I looked up. The computer screen was off. Father's face was no longer looking down at me from above.

"I don't need a riff raff like you for a Father, anyway. I'm glad that's over with." I said. I stepped back from the TV and began to walk out of the room.

I heard footsteps walk down the hall. The butler poked his head into the room. I looked at him.

"Noah? What were you shouting at?" He asked. I didn't know what to say.

"Uuuhh...well...it's kinda hard to explain. Were you asleep?" I asked.

"No, I wasn't. I was about to sleep, but then I heard you talking to something in here." The butler said as he looked around the room. I knew he was trying to see what I was talking to.

But he couldn't because the person was in a TV that I had shut down.

"Oh." I said.

The butler stopped looking around the room. He then stepped into the room and walked over to me.

"Come on, Noah. You shouldn't be up at this hour. Let's get you to bed." He said.

I nodded in agreement and yawned.

_"It will be nice to get some sleep after what just happened." _I thought.

He took me out of the room, closed the door behind me, and escorted me to my bedroom.

"Thank you." I said once I was in my bedroom. The butler nodded.

"You are welcome." He said. He turned around and walked away. I shut the door gently behind me once he was out of sight and laid down on my bed.

I knew that Father wasn't permanently shut down, but I knew he was gone for a while.

I just wondered how long he was gonna stay asleep for.

Of course, like I said, I knew it wasn't gonna be forever. Whenever he comes back online, I'll be waiting. However, one thing's sure to come out of this.

No matter what happens, Seto and Mokuba can't ever know about this.

If they do, who knows what will happen?

Would they even believe me? It would sound like a crazy story or something a crazy person would say, but it really happened and I know it. After all, I was there.

One thing's for sure, though. I can't tell them, no matter what I do or what they ask, I can't tell them. How would they even react?

Hopefully they'll believe me if it ever came to me explaining the entire thing about my Father. It would be pretty hard to explain it to them. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

And my Father didn't appear in my dream this time.

_End chapter_


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: A 'Special' School Day (Part one)

**Mokuba's POV  
**In the present, I remembered how this all happened. I walked past Seto's room, but stopped and peered in.

All he was doing was typing on that laptop, his back turned to me.

"Oh, hey Seto? We got a phone call an hour ago. The principal said we don't have to worry about doing any work today, either." I said as I walked towards his desk.

"Alright, Mokuba. Thank you for letting me know." Seto said.

I turned around, walked out of his room, and walked into mine.

I remember when he began to become who he is now.

In the past, I remember getting a bit scared for Seto. He's been getting meaner lately and a little sarcastic.

I hope it's just temporary.

It was the next morning. I got dressed quickly because I remembered that today was when Noah and Seto go to middle school while I go to the elementary school.

The elementary and middle school were in the same building, just separated from each other.

After I got dressed, I grabbed my backpack and walked out of my bedroom and to the dining room to have cereal. I was wearing a long sleeved yellow shirt, tan cargo shorts, white socks, and green shoes with white soles.

Noah was already there and he was acting very odd. I looked around the room for Seto. I didn't see him anywhere.

Noah was wearing a white t-shirt and purple shorts. He wore brown sneakers with white soles, white socks, and had his backpack next to him on the table.

_"__Seto__ must still be getting dressed. That outfit looks like the one I normally see you in, Noah." _I thought as I walked towards the table. Noah began to fiddle with his fingers.

"Noah, are you okay?" I asked, climbing into a chair and sitting in it. Noah turned to me once he could see my head.

"Oh yes! Yes, I'm fine." He said with a smile.

I just looked at him.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

Noah nodded quickly.

"I'm just a bit nervous for school, that's all. I've never been to an actual school-whether it be public or private-with kids, teachers, and principals before. I've only been homeschooled. It was that education from my Father, and it wasn't very easy." Noah said. He didn't seem so nervous anymore after telling me that.

I nodded and prepared my breakfast, which was cereal.

When that was complete, I carefully took the bowl of cereal and walked over to my seat.

Noah took the bowl for me and put it on the table. I sat in the chair.

"Thanks, Noah." I said.

"Welcome, Mokuba."

Soon, Seto came in and took a bowl out from the cabinet. He poured cereal in it and then milk. Then he grabbed a spoon and sat down with me and Noah.

He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with black sleeves coming out from the short sleeves, black jeans, and his gray shoes. His brown hair looked the same as usual. A backpack was over his shoulder, which he put down next to the seat once he sat down.

Noah and I finished eating and rinsed our bowls out.

When he finished, Seto rinsed his bowl out as well in the sink. After that, we all grabbed our backpacks and walked to the limo as Nezbitt drove us to school.

"I wonder if school's gonna be hard." I whispered to myself.

"Well, Mokuba, we'll just see." Noah replied.

I just nodded and stared out the window. I was quiet for the rest of the ride. I was remembering the dream I had. I closed my eyes.  
**MOKUBA'S DREAM**  
"Ha ha, look at the new kid!" A few bullies said as they closed in around me. I was in a playground or something. I don't know what I did to provoke these kids.

"Leave me alone!" I said.

"Not gonna happen." The leader said.

"HEY! HE TOLD YOU TO LEAVE HIM ALONE!" A familiar voice said. I looked over to see...Noah. Noah rushed into the scene and stood in front of me.

"Move." One bully said.

"No. It's time I learn how to fight." Noah responded.

"Alright. Let's pick on this one." The lead bully said.

Noah turned around to me.

"Run, Mokuba!" He said. I ran out of the scene but I stood at the edge of the playground to see what would happen.

Noah let the bullies close around him. When they closed around him, one of the bullies staggered back. I saw a fist had punched him back. Noah's fist.

The bullies began to close around him again, but Noah wouldn't have that.

He had tackled them all. I watched as his arms flew around one of them as he tackled him to the floor. He did the same thing to the others. The bullies laid on the floor in pain.

He walked over to the first bully he tackled. He punched more than once. The bully had a black eye by the time Noah finished with him.

He did the same thing to the other bullies. When he was finished with the last two, neither of them could move.

After making sure they'd stay there for a while, he ran over to me.

"Let's get out of here." He said.

I nodded and we were back in the Kaiba mansion before I knew it.  
**OUTSIDE THE DREAM**  
I opened my eyes to see we were in a parking lot.

Nezbitt unlocked the doors so we could get out of the limo.

The school was huge. We opened the doors. We heard the driver's seat window rolling down. We turned around to see Nezbitt looking at us with his window rolled down.

"Be good in school, got it? I don't want any complaints that the Kaiba brothers were acting like fools on their first day of school." Nezbitt said.

Seto looked at him.

"You're not our Dad." He said.

"I know that." Nezbitt replied while shaking his head.

He was probably wondering _"What's up with this kid?"._

Nezbitt rolled up his windows and pulled the car into reverse.

But when he was halfway through the window rolling, I swear I heard him say:

"If only we were like robots..."

I really hope it was my imagination.

He drove away after that.

Me, Seto, and Noah walked into the school. The principal showed us around the school and walked us to our classrooms.

I was separated from Noah and Seto. Soon, I had arrived in 1st grade.

Well then.

All I can say is, that day turned out a little strange near the end.

"It's only first grade, Mokuba. You can do this." I told myself.

"Don't be scared." I said.

I put my hand on the doorknob, pulled opened the door, walked inside, and almost all eyes were on me.

I just stood there in the doorway.

_"Okay...maybe this'll be harder than I thought."_

_End chapter_


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: A 'Special' School Day (Part two)

I twisted the doorknob and opened the door.

I nervously walked into my new classroom. Every kid in there, which were ten kids, stared at me. They were all sitting in desks. There was an extra desk that was close to me.

A woman looked at me and smiled.

"Hello! You must be Mokuba Kaiba. I'm your teacher. My name is Miss Makimu."

"Ye-Yeah, I'm Mokuba Kaiba." I stammered.

"There's no need to be afraid, Mokuba." She said as she walked over to me.

"Take a seat and please sit down." My teacher told me with a warm smile. She ruffled my hair. I began to relax since she seemed nice.

I nodded and walked over to the desk closest to me, the one I mentioned earlier.

I swear I heard kids whispering about me as I sat down. Stuff such as:

"THAT'S Gozaburo Kaiba's son?"

"He doesn't look like him one bit."

"Is he adopted?"

"I heard there were more Kaiba kids coming here today. Like two more. I saw a limo today at the front of the school earlier. He came out with two other kids that looked nothing like Gozaburo Kaiba at all, so maybe they're _**all**_ adopted." Another kid said.

"Who knows? We should ask him sometime. Maybe one of them-or all of them-is his biological kid." Another kid said.

I didn't really care that they were talking about me, but it did make me a bit nervous than I was before I walked into the class. Why?

Because I wasn't expecting this.

_**SMACK!**_

Miss Makimu had slapped her desk with a ruler. We all looked at her.

"Sorry about scaring you kids, but just stop talking about our new classmate. So what if he's Gozaburo Kaiba's son? He's not any different from the rest of us. Now just pay attention to the lesson." She said.

The kids all nodded and stopped staring at me.

"I thought he was a girl..." One kid muttered.

Miss Makimu did a thumbs up at me and then the lesson began. I got out some paper and began taking some notes.  
**Seto's POV**  
Noah and I had the same classroom together.

He looked at me.

"I'm ready to go in, Seto."

I nodded.

"I am too. Let's go." I said. I put a hand on the doorknob.

I pushed on the doorknob and opened the door.

Fourteen kids were staring at us as we stepped into the classroom.

Our teacher, a woman, smiled when she saw us.

"Seto and Noah Kaiba?" She asked.

We nodded.

"I'm your teacher. My name's Missus Kaliado. Please take a seat and then I'll continue teaching. We're learning about the water cycle."

She did seem pretty nice. Noah took a seat in the back while I took a seat in the front, closest to the door.

"Thank you for joining the class." Our new teacher said, smiling at us cordially.

I had nothing to say so I just continued to sit at the desk I claimed as mine.

"Yeah, you're welcome." Noah said, smiling and nodding.

Our teacher smiled again and continued teaching.  
**Back to Mokuba-his POV**  
After a while, the lesson ended and we started eating lunch.

I heard kids whispering about me.

I took out my lunchbox to see what was inside. There was some ham, a cheese stick, milk, and an orange. I took out the cheese stick and began to peel the wrapper off it.

I noticed a kid get out of his seat. He was one of the kids who was talking about me. Was he going to the bathroom?

No, I wasn't even close. The boy walked over to me and punched me in the back.

I dropped my cheese stick, which was open. The side I opened was on the floor. I couldn't eat it now. I turned to my tormentor.

"Hey!" I shouted. I knew this would've happened! This was pretty much my life in the orphanage again! Well...kinda. I didn't think life there was that bad compared to now.

_"Wait...the orphanage..."_

I remembered those times when Seto would stick up for me and say that I couldn't stick up for myself.

It was about time I changed that.

I looked up at the boy in anger. I stood up in my seat.

I'll admit that I was a bit scared, but nonetheless, I was still angry at the boy.

"Leave me alone. I didn't do anything to you, uh..."

"Robert." The boy said.

_"Robert. Okay." _I thought.

"Okay. Leave me alone, Robert. I didn't do anything to you, so just go back to your seat and eat your lunch or something." I said.

Robert sneered and walked over to me.

"Oh? The new kid thinks he can stand up to me?" He asked, looming over me.

I leaned back but nodded.

"Yes." I said.

Robert leaned back and laughed.

"Well, isn't that cute!?" He said, making me a little confused.

"Uh..." I started, but stopped when he loomed over me again.

"Okay, kid, here's the deal. I'm the class bully. When I see a kid I wanna pick on, I'll pick on them, no matter how much they stand up to me. If I think they've had enough or if I think I've had enough of picking on them, I'll leave them alone." He said.

I just nodded.

"As for you, though? You seem interesting. This year should be a fun year, but not for you. It should be fun for _**me**_." He said.

"We'll just see about that." I said.

_"Is it just me or does that sound like something Seto would say? I think you're rubbin' off on me, big bro."_

Not knowing what else to do, I threw a punch at him, but he dodged it.

"Yup, you're interesting. Okay then, that settles it! We'll fight after school!" He said.

"But I don't wanna fight. I'm only seven." I said.

"So am I." He said, walking away.

I walked back to my desk, picked up my cheese stick that was on the floor, and threw it in the trash. I sat back down at my desk and began eating on the other food I had.

_"For a seven year old, he's pretty big. Maybe I can get out of the fight somehow."_

_End chapter_


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: A 'Special' School Day (Part three)

**Noah's POV  
**After the current lesson, lunch started. I took out my lunchbox and started to eat.

In my lunchbox was a milk carton, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a few grapes, and a cookie.

I heard kids whispering about us.

"Are they Gozaburo Kaiba's children?"

"Maybe. They don't look like him, though."

"I didn't know Gozaburo Kaiba had kids!"

"Some people have kids that don't always look like their parents. Maybe they're both adopted."

"Maybe he didn't want anyone to know about his kids."

"The one in the white has a weird hairstyle."

"Yeah. The hairstyle the brown haired one has looks like a pretty normal hairstyle."

I tried to block them out.

Seto got up from his seat. He walked over to my desk and sat down. He took out his lunchbox and started eating. I looked at him.

We talked about Duel Monster cards for a bit after he sat down, but after a while, we just kept quiet.

Eventually we had a conversation about Mokuba. Seto told me things that had happened to him before they were adopted.

After about maybe five more minutes, the class started again.  
**Mokuba's POV**  
The school day seemed to drag on and on for what seemed like forever.

The bell finally rang to go home and we all walked out of the door. I packed my stuff up and walked out of the door.

Excluding the Robert part of my day. That part was the toughest.

But then I remembered what was supposed to happen after school. He said he'd fight me.

I looked back into the classroom. He was walking away from his desk and he had packed everything up.

"Come here, Mokuba. I won't hurt you." Robert said. He was almost out of the classroom now.

"Yeah right!" I said, taking off and running away as fast as my little legs would carry me.

"I'M GONNA CATCH YOU!" Robert started to run after me.

"NOT IF I CAN ESCAPE!" I shouted back.

I ran out of the school. I looked around frantically.

_"Where should I go?" _I thought. I looked behind me to see Robert gaining on me.

_"Oh no!"_

I continued to run. I ran all the way to the playground.

I started to wheeze, catching my breath.

I heard a voice behind me.

_"Uh oh. My back shouldn't have been turned!" _I thought.

"I found you, Mokuba. Now prepare for some pain." Robert said, grinning madly.

He came at me. I tried to dodge him, but he punched me in the shoulder.

I tried to kick him as hard as I could, but that barely did a thing.

Robert retaliated with another kick, and a good one to the shin on my right leg.

Now that hurt. I tried to ignore the pain.

When I looked down at my leg, I saw a bruise.

Robert didn't let me attack. He gave me another kick to the shin, but this time to my left leg.

_"I've gotta get __outta__ here."_ I thought. He raised a fist to punch me. I remembered how Seto would try block attacks when he could.

I raised my arms in front of my face, shielding myself. Robert punched me on my arms, managing to punch between them. I held my arms up as best as I could.

At this point, I thought my best bet would be to call for help in hopes that someone could hear me.

"Help!"

Robert tried to punch me, and he did.

"Help!"

He punched me again.

"OW!" I said. He tried to punch me again, but I got out of the way just in time. I rubbed my shin once I was out of the way.

And that was when I heard a shout.  
**Noah's POV**  
The bell rang.

"See you tomorrow, children!" Our teacher said. Everyone in the room packed up and walked out.

"FINALLY! The school day's over!" I said, happily running out of the room after I had packed all my stuff up to go home.

I stopped and stood outside the door. I peered back into the classroom and saw Seto putting his backpack on his back.

He stopped and stared at me.

"Noah? Are you-"

"Yes, I'm fine, Seto. I was just waiting for you to come out of the classroom." I replied, cutting him off.

Seto took a step out of the door and looked at me.

"Oh." Was all he said.

I nodded and we continued walking down the hall and down the stairs.

We didn't talk much on the way out of the school. I guess we had nothing to say.

We continued walking down the hall until we got to the doors that led to the exit or entrance for the school building.

We saw our limo in the parking lot and we walked towards it. Seto placed his backpack in the front passenger seat and Nezbitt rolled down the limo windows and looked at him. Then he looked at me.

"You two forgot someone." He said.

Seto looked alarmed. I knew who we were missing.

"MOKUBA!" We shouted in unison at the same time.

"Seto! Try searching in the school and I'll search outside of the school!" I shouted.

Seto nodded and ran inside the building. I started running outside, checking to see if there was any activity with Mokuba going on outside of the school walls.

After running for too long, I was out of breath. I stopped and gasped.

"M-Mokuba...where...a-are you...?" I wheezed when I said that. I was so thirsty from running around like that. I closed my eyes to see if I could hear anything. I tried to drown out every noise.

"Help!"

I heard voices coming from the playground.

"Help!" The voice repeated. It must've been Mokuba!

I opened my eyes and listened for the word one more time. When I heard it, I ran to the playground, only to see Mokuba being kicked by some kid. What did Mokuba do to this guy?

"OW!" Mokuba said, rubbing his shin. He was kicked there?! Ouch...

I looked at my little stepbrother. The poor little guy was all bruised up!

I walked over to the boy and pushed him away from Mokuba, and I said to the bully:

"What kind of a fool are you?! Get out of here!"

I grabbed Mokuba's hand and ran out of the area before that bully could hurt, or possibly even punish him, even more.

As I was running back to the limo, I saw Seto behind me.

"You found Mokuba! At least he's all right!" Seto shouted.

"Well, not exactly." I said, as we began to slow down. Seto looked at me. We both bent over to catch our breath.

"Whaddaya m-mean?"

"Well...Mokuba...he...just look for yourself." I said, as Mokuba stepped out from behind me. Seto could see all of his bruises now, and he just stood there and quickly walked into the limo. I guess he was too angry to even answer.

"HEY!" We heard a voice behind us. I turned around to see that boy who was picking on Mokuba running towards us.

"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET, NEW KID!" The boy yelled. Seto quickly ushered Mokuba into the car. I opened a car door and threw my backpack in.

"Noah, come on! Get in!" Seto said.

I don't know what compelled me to do what I did next. I guess I was just really fed up with how this boy was acting. What could Mokuba have possibly done to him?

With the door still open, I turned around, quickly walked over to the boy, and punched him in the face.

Not wanting to actually fight him, I ran to the car, got in, and shut the door. Nezbitt locked the doors, slammed his foot onto the gas, and sped off. All I really wanted to do was just get him to leave Mokuba alone. I didn't want a full on brawl to break out.

And that kid looked big for someone who should be around Mokuba's age, too.

"Whew, that was close..." I said, panting.

"Mokuba, who was that?" I asked.

Mokuba stared at the ground, not looking up at me.

"His name is Robert, and he's a bully..." Mokuba looked really sad when he said this.

I patted his back and smiled.

"At least we're away from him now." I said.

Mokuba looked up at me and smiled.

"Yeah, that's good." He said.

"Do you know why he bullied you?"

Mokuba looked down and didn't answer.

I frowned and looked away.

"Well...he thought I was interesting and said he'd fight me after school. I told him I didn't wanna fight, but I guess he didn't understand that." Mokuba said.

"What else?" I asked.

"I actually threw a punch at him, but it missed. I think Seto rubbed off on me a little bit." Mokuba replied. I nodded and looked at the passenger seat.

_"I think __Seto__ is rubbing off on me too, __Mokuba__."_

I heard Seto's voice from the passenger's seat.

"Robert...I'll remember that name!" He said.

I looked down at Mokuba again. He looked sad. Then he lifted his head up and looked at Seto.

"Seto, I'm gonna try sticking up for myself from now on, okay? I promise. I did that today with Robert."

I smiled. I'd like to see how he's going to stick up for himself. Like Seto, maybe? Or maybe he'll develop his own fighting style. It seems like Seto just charges in without thinking.

Seto turned around in the passenger's seat.

"Alright, Mokuba. Try not to get beaten up so badly like today."

Mokuba nodded.

"I'll try, big brother!"  
**Seto's POV**  
Later that day when we got home, I noticed that Mokuba had a limp, but it was slight.

I was reading a book when I noticed it was dark outside. I closed my book and walked around for a while, did some work for KaibaCorp, and eventually got ready for bed when I was tired enough.

In the present, here I am sitting at my desk, remembering it all and telling you my story.

I guess that's what I'm doing.

But that's enough of our past. I think it's time for you to see what's happening in the present.

Starting tomorrow.

I looked at the window and noticed that it was dark outside, so I shut off my computer, turned off my laptop, put it back in my drawer, and got up from my desk. I started walking out of my room.

I didn't hear even one sound, so I guess Mokuba and Noah were asleep.

Before going to sleep, I checked around the house to make sure that everything was locked up for the night.

Once I finished with that, I walked to my room and got changed for bed, then got in bed and fell asleep.

Are you ready for what happens next?

If you are, let's go.

_End chapter_


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: The Present Time

**IN THE PRESENT**  
**Seto's POV**  
"You won't stand a chance, Yugi! Blue Eyes, white lightning attack!" I yelled. My Blue Eyes White Dragon started to form its attack in its mouth.

It was another dream. I had three Blue Eyes White Dragons out on the field. I was fighting my rival again, but for what this time?

I guess to regain my crown.

"Wait! I activate my trap card, Mirror Force! My Dark Magician is safe from your attack for now!" Yugi said, revealing his face down card. It disappeared after my attack hit it.

"Tch! You won't be safe for long, Yugi!" I said.

"I end my turn." I said.

"I'll go! I'll put down a face-down card and end my turn." Yugi said.

"My move!" I said as I swiped a card from my Duel Disk. I grinned.

"Say hello to my Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Yugi!" I said as I laid my polymerization card on my Duel Disk, causing my three dragons to fuse.

"I end my turn." I said.

"My move! I reveal my face-down card, Magical Hats! This protects my Dark Magician from your attack. That is, unless you find him!" Yugi said.

"I told you that you wouldn't be safe, Yugi. Now attack the hat on the left, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon!"

A beam of white lightning was shot at the hat on the left.

No monster in that one.

"I end my turn." I said.

"I summon Little Soldier in attack mode!" Yugi said. A small soldier with brown hair and green eyes, wearing a blue shirt and gray over armor and a sword in hand appeared on the field.

"Now I'll end my turn!" He said.

"I summon Enraged Battle Ox in attack mode! Enraged Battle Ox, attack the middle hat!"

But it instead attacked Little Soldier.

Little Soldier disappeared off the field. Yugi lost 500 life points, now left with 1500 life points.

"And that's Little Soldier's special effect, Kaiba! Your attack goes right to him!" Yugi said.

"Blue Eyes, attack the Middle Hat!"

A white beam of lightning was once again shot at the middle hat. No monster.

"I end my turn!" I said.

"Dark Magician, reveal yourself and attack Enraged Battle Ox!" Yugi said.

The Dark Magician jumped out of the hat on the right and aimed its staff at my Enraged Battle Ox.

It gathered power in its dark green sphere and shot it at Enraged Battle Ox. I lost 800 life points, leaving me with 800 life points.

Enraged Battle Ox disappeared off the field.

"I end my turn." Yugi said.

"Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, attack Yugi's Dark Magician!" I said.

My dragon once again gathered a white beam of lightning in its mouth and, finally, launched it at the Dark Magician.

The powerful attack enveloped both Yugi and his Dark Magician.

I had won the duel.

Both monsters disappeared off the field as I crossed my arms.

And then I started laughing.

Yugi just stared at me and didn't say a word.

"Congratulations, Kaiba. You win." He said after a moment of silence.

I just turned around and walked away, my arms crossed and my laughter replaced by a smirk.

It was then when I woke up.

Noah and I are enrolled at Domino city's high school.

It was now the final day of high school for Noah and I. We aren't freshmen in high school, but it's our last day for this year. The morning sun shone through my room.

I sat up in bed. I got out my uniform and began getting dressed.

I don't know why, but while I was getting dressed, I began thinking of things that happened last year.

At some point when I threw a Dueling tournament, this weird guy tried to take over our minds. I think his name was Marik Ishtar.

He eventually looked different, talked differently, acted differently, dressed differently, and I think that was it. Everything seemed to go back to normal after that Marik guy looked normal again.

There were other things I can't began to describe, like Maximillion Pegasus, one of Yugi's friends, Bakura, acting a bit differently but still looking the same for the most part, people's souls getting taken away from Pegasus's golden eye-which I think is called a Millennium Item-and I think some other guy named Shadi. And Joey even got knocked into a coma.

I have no idea why that guy showed up, and it also seemed like he appeared out of nowhere whenever he showed up.

Long story short, it was extremely weird.

Anyway, like I said, I'm eighteen now, so that makes me a young adult. I'm in the eleventh grade now, so it's not the real graduation day of high school for me. Noah's in the same grade as me and he's also the same age that I am.

Mokuba's thirteen now. He's in middle school. What grade?

Fifth grade.

He failed a grade, and we DID miss the original deadline for school, after all. I remember we joined that school and it was pretty late into the school year.

Yugi and his friends would be sixteen by now.

Since all these years have passed by, you must be wondering if I accepted the heart of the cards, right?

I did way back in Duelist Kingdom during that time when Yugi was dueling that fake me, but I'm not going to go around telling the heart of the cards to guide me like Yugi and his friends do. I'll just duel like I always do.

I mean, that's ridiculous to me.

As for magic, I still have yet to accept that.

Mokuba was still enrolled at Domino City's Middle school and kindergarten. In that case, he's been in the same school now since he was seven years old, but just in a different hallway, I guess.

If you were wondering, Mokuba can stick up for himself, but he mainly trash talks his bullies. He only gets physical if they get physical, which doesn't happen that often. Mokuba may be different now than how he used to be, but unlike the old me, he doesn't get into full on fights. I guess you can thank Robert for that.

While looking back on last year, I realized how fast the years really go by. It seemed just like yesterday when I was twelve and in the orphanage with Mokuba and didn't have a very good deck.

Well, my deck is stronger than it used to be now. I gave my old deck to Mokuba a long time ago, just like how I promised I'd give it to him eventually.

Speaking of decks, I created technology for Duel Monsters. I had an old version, but I created newer versions and I call them Duel Disks.

Maybe I'll even create an amusement park called Kaiba Land one day if I ever have enough time, with KaibaCorp work and all that.

As for school, we wore that standard male Domino High School uniform that was a blue blazer with gold buttons and blue jeans, like we always wore.

For shoes, well, we could wear anything.

So I wore brown shoes and kept my blazer closed. Underneath my blazer, I wore a white, long-sleeved shirt.

When I finished getting dressed, I grabbed my brown school bag and walked out of my room. I wore the locket Mokuba had given me, but I kept it under my blazer. I closed the door behind me.

What locket? I'll explain that later.

"Good morning, Seto." Said a voice next to me. I looked to my side. It was Noah's voice. His uniform attire was the same as mine, but instead of wearing brown shoes he wore white shoes.

"Morning, Noah." I said.

We walked into the kitchen. Noah poured himself a glass of milk and I just ate some cereal.

Yes, I poured milk into the cereal, too. I drank some of it after finishing the cereal.

Mokuba walked into the room. He smiled when he saw us.

He was wearing his locket. He wore a teal and blue striped shirt, a yellow open vest over it with a gray stud on each side, dark blue jeans, and blue sneakers.

As for the locket I mentioned that he was wearing, these lockets were made when I was in a coma. It's a long story, so long story short, Mokuba made two lockets; one for me and one for himself.

In his locket is a picture of me. In my locket is a picture of him. It's the same pictures that were taken of the both of us back in the orphanage, if you were wondering.

"Good mornin', guys!" He said.

"Good morning, Mokuba." Noah and I said in unison.

Mokuba poured himself a bowl of cereal and poured milk into the bowl. He took it to over the table and began eating.

All Noah had to eat was an apple. I looked at him.

"We should go now." I said.

Noah nodded. We grabbed our brown school bags and headed out of the door, while Mokuba stayed behind until it was time for him to go to his school. He's able to wear casual clothes.

"BYE!" Mokuba shouted from inside. Noah and I waved at him and then we both turned away from Mokuba. Mokuba closed the door once we began walking away.

We got in the limo that was waiting for us outside. When we got to school and got out, Noah and I closed the door as the limo drove away.

But who did I see first?

That's right.

Yugi Muto. He was talking to his best friend from childhood, Téa Gardner. Well, that's what Mokuba told me sometime last year.

Noah and I walked towards the school doors. Yugi and Téa started walking inside as well, but then Yugi turned around.

He saw me and smiled, and so did Téa.

"Hey, Kaiba!" Yugi said, smiling. Téa just smiled at me. It seems like these two haven't changed one bit since last year.

"Yugi Muto. I need to get to class now." I replied, looking down at him.

I lifted my back head up, walked between Yugi and Téa and walked into the school, all with Noah behind me. Instead of pushing himself through them, he walked past them.

After a while, I noticed that Noah wasn't behind me. I walked back to the front of the school to see him talking to Yugi and Téa. I kept my distance, but crossed my arms and listened to what was being said.

"I don't get it, Téa. Kaiba used to be nice when we were younger, but now..." Yugi's voiced trailed off as I continued to look at what was going on.

I saw Yugi and Téa's expressions. They looked sad.

Yugi looked at Noah. None of them had noticed me in the background.

"Do you know why he's like this now?" He asked him.

Noah nodded.

"Yes, but I'm sorry..." He whispered to them as he started walking to class, but he noticed me.

"I thought you went to class." He said.

"I did, but then I noticed you stayed behind and wondered what it was about." I said as I uncrossed my arms and started to walk towards him.

But I heard these words from Tea:

"Don't worry, Yugi. Seto Kaiba just thinks he's some kinda big shot since he has his own company." Téa said.

_"__And __you __think __you __could __understand__? __Ha__! __You __can __never __understand __what __it's __like __to __own __a __company__." _I thought.

Soon, I had found myself in a classroom. I started walking towards the desk I would sit at when Noah stopped me with a question:

"Hey Seto?" He asked.

"What?" I said as I put my school bag down on the floor next to me.

"Did you have to be-" He didn't get to finish his question. I cut him off.

All he had to do next was await my response.

_End chapter_


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Domino High School-Yugi's Grandpa Has A What now?

"Seto, you really di-" Was what his question started with. I cut him off, figuring he'd ask why I was mean to Yugi and Téa.

"Yes I did. I had to get past them, Noah. Besides, all they do is waste my time. Not just those two, but Yugi and the rest of his dork gang." I said, cutting him off.

"...Dork gang? Wow...I really don't understand what happened to you, Seto." Noah said, shaking his head in disappointment.

"What do you mean, Noah?" I demanded, glaring at him. I sat down and adjusted the school bag of mine that I had put on the ground next to the desk I was sitting in all school year.

"Never mind. Maybe someday someone will talk some sense into you." Noah said, avoiding my glare and sitting down in a desk in a row next to me.

His desk was further behind me, though.

I scowled and just sat there in my seat.

_"Do you really expect me to smile after all that I've been through, Noah? My Father died, then my Mother died a few years later, then __Mokuba__ and I went to an orphanage, and I had to take care of him. Then your Dad came along and made things even more stressful for me." _I thought.

Even though I hate to admit it, he's right. I HAVE changed a lot over the past few years, and I've noticed it. Gozaburo is the one to blame.

If it weren't for him, I think I'd still smile a lot more. I'd probably still be similar to how I used to be as a kid.

Soon, Yugi and his friends came in and so did the teacher.

"And that was my summer after all those tournaments! Who's up next?" Joey said as he looked at his friends.

"Wow. Sounds like you must've had a pretty fun summer, Joey!" Yugi said as he smiled up at his friend.

I'll never know why he's so short. Maybe it's his genetics. Maybe he's just a late bloomer.

Whatever the case, you'd think he'd have a growth spurt by now.

"Yup, I did! So what about you, Yug? Ya have a good summer?" Joey asked Yugi.

"Uh huh! But I was pretty busy with those tournaments." Yugi replied.

Joey started to turn to the rest of his friends when he noticed me. He started walking over to me.

Joey Wheeler grinned when he was standing next to me. He kept his blazer open, revealing a light teal shirt underneath. He wore black sneakers, and so did Yugi.

"Hey, Kaiba! Good t' see ya again!" Joey said, that ludicrous grin still on his face.

I looked up at him with a frown from earlier still on my face. Something about him seemed different, but I didn't know what it was and I didn't bother to care. Maybe he was just missing something.

"Go away, Wheeler. You know we don't get along well. You're just a monkey-or a dog."

Joey just stared at me at first. Then he glared down at me and put his fists up angrily.

"WHAT!? I AIN'T NO MONKEY OR DOG!" He shouted.

Tristan held him back.

"Hey! Calm down, man! Do you really wanna get into a fight on your last day of the eleventh grade? Just calm down, man!"

Joey put his fists down and smiled at his friends.

"...Yeah. Yer right, Tristan. Sorry about dat." Joey said, grinning at his friends.

I wondered if he would ever stop grinning.

"It's okay, Joey. Let's go find our seats and sit down." Téa suggested.

Joey nodded in agreement and walked off with his friends to find a seat. He looked back at me and frowned. He then put two fingers up to his eyes and turned those fingers to me, which were the index finger and the middle finger.

It was basically the "I'm watching you" sign.

"I'm watchin' ya, rich boy!" He said.

I gave him another glare as Joey, Yugi, Téa, and Tristan found a seat near the windows.

"Say that to someone who cares, Wheeler." I muttered, looking away and straight ahead.

Soon, a boy with long white hair halfway down his back walked in.

What was his name again? I think it was Bakura Ryou.

He greeted Yugi and his friends. Yugi said his name.

Yes, that was it. He hardly appeared with Yugi and his friends when they would duel. No wonder I forgot his name.

The bell rang. It was the warning bell, which meant everyone had to be in their classes in five minutes.

Five minutes later, class started after that late bell rang. Everyone took out some paper and pencils, and we started to get to work.

It was math. Starting off the day with math might be tough for others, but at least it's out of the way.

And I aced it.  
****TIMESKIP****  
We all had a little bit of free time before we could go home. I took out a book and started reading it. This day was just like the first day of high school last year.

Except this is the last day of this year.

Yugi and Joey were playing a game of 'Duel Monsters' together.

"Hey, Joey! Earth to Joey! Hey, are you in there? It's your turn!" Said a smiling Yugi.

What would happen next? A Blue Eyes White Dragon card would pop into the conversation?

Well, I ended up jinxing it.

I zoned out after that, but not enough, as I could still hear their conversation they were having. Yugi, Joey, Téa, and Tristan talked a bit more after that. I no longer zoned out when Yugi said:

"My Grandpa owns a super rare awesome card! Wanna see it after school?"

_"Did he just...?" _I looked over at Yugi and his friends. It was like déjà vu now. It was all too familiar, almost like last year.

How ironic.

Everyone nodded. I slowly put my book down as I saw them do this. Bakura said something about having to go home.

_"Rare card? Could it be...? Is it what I think it is!? I guess I'll have to take Solomon __Muto's__ card again."_

I knew class was about to end in at least another minute.

I put my book in my school bag and grinned.

_"Guess who's heading over to __Yugi's__ game shop after school?"_

Who knows? Maybe I'll really like the card Mr. Muto has.

_End chapter_


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Will Seto Think of A Plan?

**Seto's POV**  
When the bell rang to go home, I put my book in my backpack and walked out of the classroom, with Noah walking quickly behind me.

Did I even bother to wait for him?

Nope. I just continued walking.

I walked briskly towards KaibaCorp. I know Noah wanted me to stop and wait for him, but I didn't.

"Wait, Seto! You need to slow down! Do you have a lot of homework or something? Is that why you're walking so fast?! Or is it because of what you heard Yugi say?" I heard him say from behind me.

I ignored him and I didn't slow down.

He was right about the Yugi part, but about the homework part? No. I didn't get any today, and I don't think anyone else did. I mean, come on, it's the first day of school! Besides, when I do get any homework, I always complete it quickly with no breaks. It's no problem for me.

I just needed to think of something, and fast. I continued walking faster as Noah continued walking behind me. I could hear him panting.

_"Just stop walking after me and take a few minutes to breathe already!" _I thought.

Yugi and his friends didn't come out of the classroom until a long time after we did.

Like I care about those geeks anyway.

But Noah and I were already heading towards KaibaCorp. We were getting close to it.

You might be wondering why Noah and I were walking to Kaiba Corporation instead of a house, aren't you?

Well, we practically live in KaibaCorp now. It's like our house, but at the same time it's not, if you know what I mean.

If you were wondering, we actually have a house, which is where we go if we're not going to KaibaCorp. But most of the time we're in KaibaCorp.

The Virtual World room is in KaibaCorp as well. But Noah acts strange around that room.

It's almost as if something's bothering him.

I've asked him about it before, but most of the time he just changes the subject. Like this, for example, which happened when I enrolled us into school. This happened about a two weeks ago:  
**FLASHBACK**  
I was doing some math homework one day at KaibaCorp while also working on the computer in my office. When I finished with the homework, I continued working on my computer.

I mean, since I was already working on it, why stop?

After I finally finished that, I got up from my chair, walked out of my room, and started walking around Kaiba Corporation.

I stopped in the hallway when I saw Noah staring at the door where the Virtual World room was in on my little walk. It looked like he was moving his lips. Was he talking to himself?

"Noah? What is it, and who're you talking to?" I asked, walking up to him.

Noah noticed me and turned away from the door.

"N-Nothing! I was just...uh..."

I looked at him in the eyes, a frown on my face and clenched fists. That's pretty much become my default expression now.

"Just tell me, Noah. It's not that hard."

"It's none of your business, Seto!" Noah said suddenly, and then he ran away.

I just watched him run away as I stood there in confusion and I looked at the Virtual World room door. After that, I walked away from the door and continued walking around, putting my hands in my pockets.

"It's just a room. Why does he act so strange around it? Is he hiding something from me? What could be in that room?" I thought.

Even though I don't show it, I'm getting a little worried for Noah. Sometimes I'll see him walking and then he'll suddenly cover his ears as if he heard something loud, even if I didn't. He says it happens sometimes ever since he woke up one night at age 12. I've shrugged it off as hallucinations since it doesn't last long.

I walked down the halls and eventually found myself standing in the hall with the Virtual World room in it again. I walked over to the door.

Noah wasn't there, and he wasn't staring at the door.

"Good. Wait...does Mokuba know about this entire thing?" I thought, stopping. I was thinking about asking him, but then I decided that he might have already seen this kind of behavior at some point.

After all, even though we have an actual house, if we're not there then we're spending most of our time at KaibaCorp, so Mokuba might've seen that by now.

"Nah. No need to bother him over something as stupid as this. I'm sure he's seen this behavior from Noah anyway." I thought.

With that, I walked back to my office. I had enough of walking around KaibaCorp.

As I was walking towards my office, Mokuba was standing near my door. He noticed me, smiled, and walked up to me.

"There you are, Seto! I was wondering where you were!" He said. I looked down at him.

"Well, I'm still here, Mokuba." I said. I started to walk past him, but he stopped me.

"Let's duel, big bro!"

"Sorry, Mokuba. I have too much work to do."

"Don't worry, Seto, it'll be quick!" Mokuba said. He grabbed my wrist and started running somewhere, forcing me to follow him.

He let my wrist go halfway towards a door. I recognized it. It was the room where I first dueled Solomon Muto, Yugi's grandpa.

Mokuba ran over towards the door and I followed him. He walked inside and stood at one stand while I stood at the other.

"Let's duel, Seto!"

"Alright, Mokuba, but this is gonna be quick." I said as I took my deck out of my pocket. I placed it next to me on the dueling stand.

"I'll go first! I summon Man Eating Plant in defense mode!" Mokuba said, summoning his monster in defense mode on the field.

He ended his turn.

"My move! I summon Enraged Battle Ox in attack mode! Now attack his Man Eating Plant!" I said.

Enraged Battle Ox rushed at Mokuba's monster and defeated it, but Mokuba didn't lose any life points.

"Now I summon Ehren, Lightsworn Monk in attack mode and I'll end my turn!" Mokuba said.

"I summon Y-Dragon Head in attack mode and attack your Lightsworn Monk!"

Mokuba lost 100 life points, leaving him with 3900 life points.

Not for long!

"Now, Enraged Battle Ox, attack his life points directly!" I said.

Enraged Battle Ox ran towards Mokuba and attacked him, depleting his 3900 life points to 2200 life points.

"Wow, big bro, I guess this is gonna be a quick duel like you wanted it to be! Now I summon Fluffball in defense mode and end my turn!" Mokuba said.

"...Fluffball? What is that?"

Fluffball was...well...a fluff ball. It was dark green with big, blue eyes, and blue feet. It had defense points of 500 and attack points of 200.

So kinda like Kuriboh, but not exactly.

"Yup! It's a new monster I got, big bro!" Mokuba said.

"I see. My move!"

I drew a new card and placed it in my hand. I noticed Battle Ox and Blue Eyes White Dragon.

While I was going to summon Blue Eyes, I decided to wait and instead summoned Battle Ox.

"Now attack his Fluffball, Battle Ox!" I said.

Battle Ox attacked his monster and left Mokuba with no more monsters on the field.

"I end my turn."

"Now I summon Dragon of Steel in defense mode and end my turn!"

Mokuba said.

Dragon of Steel was just that-a steeled dragon, but it had no wings. It had blue eyes, though.

All these monsters seemed new, so I guess Mokuba recently bought new cards.

Steel Dragon had 1000 defense points and 1500 attack points.

"I sacrifice Battle Ox and Y-Dragon Head to summon Blue Eyes White Dragon!" I said.

Battle Ox and Y-Dragon head were absorbed in a blue light and dissolved. When the light faded, Blue Eyes White Dragon took their places.

"Now attack his Steel Dragon, Enraged Battle Ox!" I said.

Even though he was attacked again, Mokuba once again lost no life points. Well, that was gonna change next.

"NOW, BLUE EYES, WHITE LIGHTNING ATTACK!"

Blue Eyes tilted its head back and gathered the powerful beam of white lightning in its mouth. It launched the attack at Mokuba and enveloped him in it.

Mokuba had lost. My Blue Eyes White Dragon and Enraged Battle Ox disappeared off the field. Mokuba and I gathered our cards up and walked out of the dueling room.

"Nice duel, Seto!" He said to me with a smile. I looked down at him and nodded.

"Thanks, Mokuba. You were pretty good, too."

After that, I headed back to my office to finish my work.  
**PRESENT**  
I noticed our limo away a bit from the school. I got in the back seat with Noah and he closed the door.

"Don't take us home. Take us t' KaibaCorp." I ordered.

"Yes sir, mister Kaiba."

The limo drove off. When we got to KaibaCorp, I got out of the limo and I closed the door behind me when I got out while Noah got out of the other side. I walked to my office and closed the door, and then I rushed up to my desk to think of a plan on how to take that Blue Eyes White Dragon card away from Yugi's Grandpa, setting my briefcase on the floor.

Of course, if that's the card I think it was.

I rolled around in my chair to think, now staring out of the glassy windows and into Domino City. The view was cool, I'll admit it, but after a while you get used to it.

I rolled back around in my chair, now facing my desk once again.

"Oh, come on! He's old! I'll just duel him! I'll use all my best cards. This should be a quick and easy duel!"

I started to laugh. After all, I seriously doubt that an old man could win against an eighteen year old!

I mean, this kind of already happened before, anyway. However, I wasn't exactly sure on how it would all play out.

But I guess I'll just find out who'll win or lose this duel soon, now won't I?

I picked up my briefcase and placed it on my desk. I pressed on the locks and opened it up. I began organizing my deck.

I picked out some spell cards and trap cards. Next, I went to my monsters, immediately picking out my three Blue Eyes White Dragons.

Next came my Battle Ox and Enraged Battle Ox.

The Mystical Elf.

Y-Dragon Head.

Z-Metal Tank.

Polymerization.

And just in case, Obelisk the Tormentor.

After I gathered those cards, I looked through my deck to make sure I had everything. When I noticed I did, I placed it in the right pocket of my school jeans, and grabbed my briefcase.

I got up from my desk, grabbed my briefcase, walked out of my office, and began to walk around KaibaCorp.

All I had to do now was just tell a henchman and the plan would soon be in action.

And guess what? I did just that.

I saw Roland who was just exiting the doors of KaibaCorp. He was on his phone.

I followed him outside, but as soon as I was behind him, his call was over with. He turned around, only to see me.

"Mister Kaiba! Can I help you with something, sir? Another tournament?" He asked.

"No, Roland, but there is something I need you to do for me." I said.

"And what's that, sir?" He asked.

"I need to get to the Game Shop run by Yugi's grandpa." I replied.

"Oh! I'll be right back." Roland said as he ran off.

Soon, I heard a car coming my way. It stopped in front of me.

It was the limo I was often seen in. I opened the back door, got inside, and sat down.

"You said to Yugi's Game Shop?" Roland asked, turning his head around just a little.

"Yes."

"Alright, sir." Roland replied.

Roland turned his head back around to face the windshield, put his foot on the gas pedal, and started driving me to the Game Shop.

Once there, Roland stopped the limo.

"Here you are, sir."

"Thank you, Roland." I said as I grabbed my briefcase. I reached over, opened the door, got out of the limo, and closed the door behind me.

What happened last year was about to start all over again.

_End __chapter_


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Seto Wants That Card

**EARLIER THAT MORNING-YUGI'S POV**  
It was my final day of the tenth grade in high school. The school I went to was still Domino High school.

I grabbed my school outfit from the end of my bed. It was the same as last year, but instead of wearing that untucked white shirt like I wore when me and my friends went to Duelist kingdom, I wore that sleeveless black shirt I was always wearing after that entire Duelist Kingdom thing happened.

I pulled on my blue blazer and blue pants. I put on that leather belt and collar, and the shoes I usually wear.

I grabbed my Millennium Puzzle and slid the chain around my neck. I turned around to see a transparent version of the Pharaoh sitting on my bed.

"Are you ready, Yugi?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. Let's go!" I said. I grabbed my school bag, walked out of my room, and soon found myself at the bottom of the game shop. You know, the part that all the customers would see when they would would walk through the door.

My grandfather, Solomon Muto, noticed me and smiled.

"Have a good day, Yugi."

"You too, grandpa. Bye!" I said. I waved at him and walked out of the game shop. One of my best friends, Téa Gardner, was waiting for me outside.

"Hi, Yugi! Ready to go?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yup!"

As we were walking to school, we talked about some things that had happened last year.

"Yeah, I agree, Yugi. That Marik guy sure was weird. But he seemed fine after the duel the Pharaoh had with him."

I nodded.

"True."

When we got to school, Téa and I talked outside the gates for a few minutes. A familiar head of brown hair walked towards us. Behind him was someone else with green hair.

I recognized him right away: Seto Kaiba. He's not really an enemy, though. He's more of a rival.

"Hey, Kaiba!" I said. I turned to him with a smile. Téa smiled at him as well.

"Yugi Muto. I need to get to class now." He replied. He pushed himself between me and Téa and walked inside the school.

"I don't get it, Téa. Kaiba used to be nice when we were younger, but now..." I said as my voice trailed off.

His friend turned his head around a bit. I noticed him.

"Do you know why he's like this?" I asked.

"Yes, but I'm sorry..." He whispered. He turned his head back to facing forwards.

"Don't worry, Yugi. Seto Kaiba thinks he's some kinda big shot since he has his own company." Téa said. I looked at her.

"Yeah...I guess so." I was about to look back at the doors of the school until I heard someone call my name.

"Hey! Yugi, Téa! Over here!" Said a familiar voice. I turned my head to my side a little bit so I could see the voice. It was Tristan! Next to him was Joey.

"Hi, Tristan! Hi, Joey!" I said.

"Hey, Yug! Hey, Téa." Joey said with a grin. He was wearing his normal school attire. He wore a light blue shirt underneath his blue blazer. Joey wasn't wearing his dogtag that he wears most of the time. I guess he was in a rush today and forgot about it.

As for Tristan, he wore a white collared shirt.

"Hey, guys." Téa said with a smile.

We all turned around and walked into the school, talking to each other on the way to our classroom.

We found our class and walked inside. Kaiba and his friend were already sitting in their desks, but they looked a little angry. I guess they just had a fight about something.

We walked over to them.

"Hey, Kaiba! Good t' see ya again!" Joey said with a grin. Kaiba looked at him with a frown.

"Go away, Wheeler. You know we don't get along well. Besides, you're just a monkey-or a dog." Seto said.

_"__Ooohh__...harsh." _I thought.

At first, Joey just stared at him. Then he got mad.

"WHAT!? I AIN'T NO MONKEY OR DOG!" Joey said angrily. He put his fists up.

Tristan came up behind Joey and physically restrained him.

"Calm down, man! Do you really wanna get into a fight on your first day of the eleventh grade? Just calm down, man!" He said. Joey stared at him. Tristan took his arms out from under Joey.

"Yeah. You're right, Tristan. Sorry about dat, guys." He said. A grin came back onto his face.

I smiled.

_"There's the Joey we all know."_ I thought.

"It's okay, Joey. Let's go find a seat." Téa suggested. We all agreed as we walked away from Kaiba. When we were a few desks behind him, I heard this:

"I'm watchin' you, rich boy!" I heard Joey say.

I turned around. Joey was pointing two fingers from his eyes and at Kaiba. Kaiba just glared at him. I saw his mouth move once he turned around, but I didn't know what he said. After that, we were soon sitting in some desks near the windows. It was similar to last year.

As we were talking, one of our friends, Bakura Ryou, came over to us.

"Bakura!" I said.

"Hey, Bakura!" Joey, Tristan, and Téa said in unison.

Bakura smiled at us.

"Hey, guys. How's life been since last year?" He asked.

"Kinda weird, Bakura." Joey said.

Bakura nodded and sat down in his seat. He told us how he thought that last year was weird as well, like how the rest of us did. The bell rang. Everyone else came into class. The late bell rang about five minutes later.

We all took out some paper, pencil, and began to work.  
**LATER**  
We had some free time after class. Joey turned to me in his desk.

"Hey Yug, wanna play some Duel Monsters with me?" He asked. I nodded.

"Sure, Joey!" I said as I got out of my desk. I put both hands on my desk as Joey got out of his desk and put both hands on his desk. He turned his desk around and pushed it against mine while I held my desk in place. We sat back down in our desks.

Joey brung his school bag and rested it against his chair leg as I got out a playing board. I set it up while Joey took his card deck out. I did the same after I finished setting up the "board". We shuffled our cards. Soon, he and I were playing Duel Monsters.

It was becoming an intense match. Joey was looking at the current card I had played and he wasn't doing much. He was looking at the cards in his hand. I decided to call out to him to see if I could snap him out of it.

"Hey, Joey! Earth to Joey! Hey, are you in there? It's your turn!" I said.

"Yeah, I'm here. Just thinkin'." Joey replied.

While Joey was still thinking of his move, I looked at Téa and Tristan.

"Hey guys, wanna come over to the Game Shop later? Gramps has a super special awesome rare card! Wanna see it after school?"

"Sure!" Téa and Tristan said. I turned to Joey.

"Joey?"

"I don't see why not." He said as he looked up from his card deck in his hand.

"Well, the bell might ring soon. Let's pack up." I said.

"Right behind ya, pal." Joey said as he put his deck in his school bag. He closed his school bag up and turned his desk back around in its previous position and back to where it originally was. He flung his bag over his shoulder.

Meanwhile with me, I folded up the playing board and put it in my school bag. I did the same to my deck and closed my school bag. I held onto my bag and continued sitting in my seat while talking to my friends.

I noticed Kaiba. He was reading a book, just like last year.

_"This really _**_IS_**_ like last year."_ I thought. Have we all gone back in time or something and we just don't realize it?

A few minutes later, the bell rang to go home. We walked out of the classroom door and out of the school.

I was walking to the game shop with my best friends Téa, Joey, and Tristan behind me.

Once we got there, I opened the door and walked in with a smile.

"I'm home! Hey gramps, can you show me and my friends your super special awesome rare card?" I asked as soon as I walked in.

And no, it actually wasn't a Blue Eyes White Dragon this time, but yes, it's similar to it. There's only four Blue Eyes in the world, right?

Well, technically three now since Seto ripped the fourth one up.

My Grandfather looked at me.

"My rare card? You mean my new special card, right?"

I nodded. My Grandpa put his right hand on his chin and looked away, clearly wondering on if he should show us the card or not.

I mean, after all, Seto **_did_** rip up that Blue Eyes in front of us last year.

I clapped my hands together and put them in front of my face.

"Please!? We just wanna see it!" I said.

Joey grinned and bowed.

"Pretty please?!" He asked.

My Grandpa looked at us and smiled.

"Oh well. I can't really refuse, can I? Looks like you kids are in for a special treat again! I just hope nothing bad happens to this one this time." My Grandpa said.

He bent down and pulled out a box, the same box from last time.

"Ready? Here it is..." He opened the box and held up a card.

"The Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon! It's so rare, so powerful, I never let it leave my hand and I always and will always keep it close to me since last year! I learned that the hard way, though. What do you kids think of this one?"

"It's so cool, mister Muto!" Téa said.

"Yeah! Probably cooler than Blue Eyes itself!" Joey said, as he and Téa both looked at the card. Tristan did too, but he seemed more confused than anything.

Then, at that moment, Tristan took the card out of his hand.

"Doesn't look that different to me." He said.

My Grandpa immediately jumped up and snatched the card out of Tristan's hand.

"Gah! Not again! This is currently the only Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon card in the world! It's priceless! There might be more of it in the world, but I'm not sure about that. Arthur gave me this card as a way to make up for the loss of my Blue Eyes!" He said, putting the card behind his back as he glared at Tristan.

Tears weren't in his eyes this time. He just looked mad. Either way, the tears in his eyes could have been from how rare and priceless the card is.

Joey leaned forward, grinning.

"Speakin' of second cards an' all dat, how've you been all dis time?"

"I've been good." Grandpa said, beginning to smile.

"Great!" Joey said, still grinning. Then he stood up straight and began to look around the room.

The door opened. We looked over at the tall figure. It was Seto Kaiba.

Kaiba walked in, holding that gray briefcase of his, just like he did last year.

Yes, **_a__gain._**

"Hello. Can I help you?" Grandpa asked. He looked like he remembered Kaiba, but my Grandpa's getting older so he probably didn't.

Then again, who knows?

"If you can, but it's not surprising if you can't." Seto said.

With that, he walked further into the shop.

"I'm looking for a certain card." Seto said.

Joey walked in front of us.

"Kaiba, you're still into Duel Monsters? How about we all duel again someday?" Joey asked.

Kaiba stepped forward once more.

"You still wanna duel me?" Seto looked away and laughed.

"Ha! I'd have more of a challenge playing _Solitaire. _You know you could never beat me, Wheeler. I've always defeated you. What makes you think you could defeat me?"

"Ooohh, I'm shakin'! So ya wanna settle dis with fists, do ya!? Bring it on!" Joey said to Kaiba, holding a fist up. I ran in front of him and held him back.

"Woah! Settle down, Joey!" I said.

_"It's just like last year!" _I thought. I couldn't help it! Despite the new Blue Eyes card, it was like déjà vu! I mean, after all, it did already kinda happen.

Kaiba turned back to face us. Then his eyes grew wide and he walked forward to the desk. I think he might've looked even more surprised than last time.

"That's enough window shopping." Grandpa said, closing the box and placing it underneath the desk. He leaned back up in his chair and looked at Kaiba, probably wondering what he wants or why he's still here.

"I'll trade you anything for that card! I have some new ones!" Kaiba said, holding up his briefcase and opening it.

"Those are some very rare and impressive cards, Kaiba." My Grandpa said while looking into the briefcase.

He looked at Kaiba and sat back down into his chair.

"But I'm not going to give you my card. Not this time, and not ever again. You remember what happened last time, right?" My Grandpa asked.

_"Okay, so he does remember __Kaiba__. Yup. This is almost exactly like last year." _I thought.

Kaiba just stared at my Grandpa, a shocked look on his face like last year.

"I treasure it, just like I treasure my good friend who gave it to me. I'm not giving it up, no matter how rare a certain card is. I won't let what happened last year happen again." My Grandpa said, looking up at Kaiba.

"Yeah...fine. I get it already, old man." Kaiba said, closing his briefcase. He turned around and walked out of the room in anger.

I heard him mutter something about a senile old fool. But something seemed off.

I had a feeling that something terrible would happen to me and my friends soon.

I know it wasn't extremely bad last year, but it was still pretty mean of Kaiba to rip my grandpa's card in half like that. I wasn't sure how long it was going to be, but I felt like whatever was going to happen would happen soon.

I had the feeling it was gonna be something even worse than last time.

Maybe even a little exciting.

_End chapter_


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30: A Duel and Mokuba's Huge Mistake

**Seto's POV**  
I walked out of the game shop door, still holding onto my briefcase. I was driven back to KaibaCorp in the limo parked right out front of the Game Shop.

Along the way, I thought of a plan. I kept thinking of plans until I thought of one that could actually work out well, or one that would at least make the most sense.

Once I got to KaibaCorp, I had completely figured out my plan and what would happen.

However, I walked into my office and thought it out once more to see if it would go as planned. After I thought it out one more time, I decided it would work. I walked out of my office and through KaibaCorporation.

I was trying to find two henchmen of mine.

After walking around for a while, I found two henchmen. I walked over to the two KaibaCorp henchmen and whispered the plan in their ear. One of the henchmen was one I knew very well: Roland.

Roland has tan skin and he's often seen wearing a gray button-up suit with a white shirt underneath and complete with a yellow tie. He wears gray pants and black shoes. His hair is green and spiked up at the side. He always wears black sunglasses.

He's pretty loyal to the company, and was often the announcer if I would hold a Duel Monsters tournament. You know, kinda like the referee to start a Duel match, one to announce who would go against who, and that also goes with knowing which contestants had entered and who hadn't entered into a tournament.

They nodded. Roland began to walk out of the door. When he realized the other henchmen wasn't following him, he walked back over to him.

"I'm pretty sure mister Kaiba means to capture mister Muto right now." He said. Roland grabbed the other henchmen by the shirt collar and they both walked out of the door, followed by the door closing.

I started walking away when I heard someone call my name.

"Oh, wait, mister Kaiba!" It said. I turned around to see it was Roland.

"Roland. What is it?" I asked. Roland was holding something in his hands.

"Nothing of much importance, sir. But here." Roland said. He looked down at his hands and held the outfit out towards me. I looked at it.

It was the outfit I was almost always seen in. It consisted of a black turtleneck, black pants, shoes, a green belt with KC on the gray part with gray studs on the green wrap around part of the belt, a white trenchcoat with gray studs made by KaibaCorp and a magenta underside, steel wristbands on each arm, and blue belts strapped around its arms and shins, but they were on top of the trenchcoat.

"Here, mister Kaiba. While you were at school, I noticed this laying around in your room back in your manor. I figured you might come to KaibaCorp after school and that you might have wanted to change clothes like most kids do, so that's why I have this." He explained.

Although I would've been fine in my uniform, I figured I could change anyway for his sake.

"Thanks, Roland." I said, reaching my right hand out to the trenchcoat. I raised it over my head.  
*********************  
I walked into the room where I would duel Solomon and looked around.

"I still remember this room. This is the room where Yugi first beat me with Exodia and became the number one Duelist. After that happened, then the entire Pegasus thing came into my life and things got really weird." I said as I continued looking around.

After that, I walked to one side of the room and stood at my dueling stand. It was the same one I was at when Yugi beat me. I assembled the deck I would use to beat Solomon. When I finished that, I set my briefcase beside me on the floor.

Soon, Solomon Muto was brought to me and stood at his stand. He placed his cards to the side of it.

"Just so you know, even though this isn't a real duel, we'll still play by the rules." I said.

"Alright. I've made a new deck from some Duel Monster cards I bought a while back in a different game store and it contains some cards you might have already seen." He said.

"Oh, that reminds me. Before we start, mister Muto, I have one more rule." I said.

Solomon looked interested.

"Hm? And what's that, Kaiba?" He asked.

"If I win, I get that Blue Eyes Alternative Dragon card you have. I won't steal it like last time."

Solomon nodded.

"Well, alright. Will you give me a card in return?" He asked.

"I'm not sure about that." I said.

"Alright." He said.

We placed our hands on our cards.

"Time t' get this show on the road, mister Muto."

"Indeed."

We each put six cards in our hands. When I looked through the cards in my hand, I noticed that I held a very special card.

"I'll go first! I put a card in face-down position and end my turn!" I said, putting my card down on my machine. It spawned as face-down on the field.

"My turn! I'll summon Kuriboh in attack mode!"

"...Kuriboh? Really?"

Solomon Muto nodded.

"There's more! Next, I'll use my multiplying card to multiply my Kuriboh into more Kuriboh's!"

"So you multiplied it into more than just one Kuriboh. Am I supposed to be scared of those furballs?"

"Kuriboh is more powerful than you can imagine. Now attack his face down card, my Kuriboh's!"

"Not so fast! I reveal my face down card! Attack!" I said, flipping my face-down card over to reveal my monster, which was X-Head Cannon.

My Monster attacked the Kuriboh's, and all except for one faded away. The multiplying effect did as well, but his life points didn't go down.

"My turn again! I summon Battle Ox in defense mode and end my turn!" Solomon said.

Battle Ox appeared on the field in defense mode.

I drew my next card from my hand. It was Enraged Battle Ox.

"Since you summoned Battle Ox, I'll summon Enraged Battle Ox in attack mode!" I said, placing it on the field.

"Now attack his Kuriboh, Enraged Battle Ox!"

Enraged Battle Ox attacked his Kuriboh, bringing Solomon down to 2300 life points.

"That was just what I needed! I sacrifice my Battle Ox to summon my Summoned Skull in attack mode!" Solomon said, summoning his monster.

"After this monster is summoned, I can't attack on my turn. You go." Solomon said.

I looked through my cards in my hand and drew a different one from my deck. I drew the Mystical Elf.

"I place a card face-down on the field. Next, I'll summon my Saggi the Dark Clown in defense mode!" I said.

Saggi spawned on the field in defense mode.

"Summoned Skull, attack his X-Head Cannon!"

Summoned Skull raised a fist to attack my X-Head Cannon.

"You've activated my trap card, the Mystical Elf! I gain 300 life points for each monster on the field! I gain 1200 more life points!"

I now had 5200 life points.

When Summoned Skull attacked, I was down to 2900 life points.

But all I really needed was those two monsters I already had on the field.

"And now it's my turn! I sacrifice my Saggi the Dark Clown and my Enraged Battle Ox to summon my Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

Solomon sighed. I saw him move his right arm. Did he take something out of his deck?

"I lose again." He said.

"BLUE EYES, WHITE LIGHTNING ATTACK NOW!" I yelled.

A big "NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!" echoed through the room and a strong wind stirred up from the attack. When the wind died down, Solomon Muto was down to 0 life points and he was laying on the floor. His Summoned Skull had disappeared from the field.

I retracted my Blue Eyes White Dragon from the field and put it back in my deck. He wasn't badly injured like he was last time, but some rest should help him recover. I guess dueling at an old age can cause someone to get tired.

I picked up my cards, put them in my briefcase, closed the briefcase, and walked over to him.

"He'll be fine." I said. I noticed something in his right hand. I set my briefcase down and bent down. I took the card out of his hand.

It was his Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon card. I stood up and walked away.

"I'm too old for this..." I heard him mutter while I was walking away.

I walked out of the dueling room.

I walked into my office and I walked over to my desk. I put my briefcase under my desk.

I picked up the phone and dialed in Yugi's game shop number.

"Hello, this is the game shop." I heard Yugi's voice over the phone.

"Hey Yugi, I dueled your Grandpa fair and square and won his card again. Come over here because he needs some help." I said. I hung up after that.

_"__That'll bring __Yugi__ over here...heh heh." _I looked at the card in my hand. It was that Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon card that I won from Yugi's Grandpa. However, I wouldn't rip it in half this time.

But it was kinda weird doing this all over again, even though it was different. I kept thinking that something else would happen.

I started walking around the room I was currently occupying. I walked out.

_"Where's Noah and __Mokuba__?" _I thought while walking around KaibaCorp. I had an idea where they might have been.

I walked into the elevator and watched as the doors closed after punching in my numbers.

I put my hands in my pants pockets while waiting to get to the first floor. I stepped out of the elevator, continuing to walk with my hands in my pockets.

_"They must be in the Virtual World room." _I thought I heard their voices coming from a room at the end of the first hall once I was out of the elevator.

That was our new Virtual World room, or at least where the room resided in now.

I walked all the way to the room and saw my brothers through the door that was open just a crack. I pushed the door open, walked in, and Mokuba and Noah turned to me.

"I see you changed your clothes, Seto." Noah said.

"Roland's idea." I said.

He just nodded.

Mokuba had a smile on his face as he looked up at me, and so did Noah.

"Hey, Seto! Noah's just showin' me around this room." Mokuba said.

"I can see that, Mokuba."

Mokuba walked over to the capsules.

"Hey Noah, since you lived with Gozaburo long before we did, what are these things called?"

Noah walked over to him.

"It's called a capsule, Mokuba. It's supposed to transport you to the Virtual World once you get inside it. The virtual world is like a game. Well, it's not really a game, but I guess it's basically an out of body experience? Anyway, you can see your progress on that screen." Noah said, pointing to that TV with the pitch black screen.

"Really? Cool!" Mokuba said as he walked over to the TV. Then he walked over to one of the capsules and got inside it.

"Feels kinda...cold." Mokuba said as he relaxed in the capsule.

"That's because they haven't been used in a while, and it's also metal. This room tends to get pretty cold sometimes." Noah replied.

Mokuba nodded at Noah. He was about to get out of the capsule, but then the lid closed down on him, forcing Mokuba to stay in the capsule. It trapped him inside.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Mokuba shouted through the glass lid, as he was forced to lay down. He looked at Noah and I in fear. We stared at him through the capsule.

_"What's going on?!"_ I thought. The screen turned on.

_"Didn't I tell you that I would eventually come back online, Noah? I told you that you would help me rule the Virtual World someday, Noah. I just didn't say when. __I thought about my little plan in my solitude and realized that I wanted to get you all in a room together someday. It will be much easier to rule the Virtual World that way.__"_ Said a voice that sounded vaguely familiar. The person who had been speaking came into view in the TV screen.

The person in the screen walked closer to us. His face was no longer obscured by shadows, and the same goes for his body. I knew who it was as soon as he "walked" closer to us.

That hair, that mustache, that red suit, those gold buttons...no doubt about it. It was definitely Gozaburo, that awful excuse for a stepfather back in my youth when I had gotten adopted into the Kaiba family with Mokuba. My stepfather's face was looking down at us! I loosened by grip on the Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon card. It fell to the floor.

I never thought I'd see his face again. Not only that, but he was also in a TV screen! That was a big shock.

_"Out of all the people to see after all these years, I was never expecting to see him again!" _I thought.

_"But wait...why was __Gozaburo__ talking as if he discussed this with Noah? What is this nonsense?" _I thought. I glared at him now. Noah noticed my glare and looked over at me.

"S-Seto, it's a really long story. Trust me. I'll tell you sometime later, though. I promise." Noah said.

We both looked back at the screen that contained Gozaburo after taking a quick glance at Mokuba in the capsule. He was writhing like crazy in the capsule. He was trying so hard to get out, and I didn't blame him.

_"Hello Noah, __Seto__, and __Mokuba__. It's good to see you boys again." _Gozaburo said, which made me look away from Mokuba and at him instead.

_"Instead of looking at me, maybe you two should look over at __Mokuba__." _He said. We looked at Mokuba.

Metal bars clasped themselves around Mokuba's wrists and legs. I ran over to his capsule and pounded on the lid as soon as I saw this. Mokuba looked at me in fear.

"H-Hey! What's goin' on?! SETO! NOAH! HELP ME!" I heard him shout.

"MOKUBA!" I yelled. I glared up at my computerized stepfather.

"Let my little brother go, Gozaburo!" I said.

_"I'm afraid that won't happen, __Seto__."_Gozaburo replied.

Suddenly, those suction cups placed themselves around Mokuba's ears and Mokuba shouted for help even louder than before. His back arched up. I knew he was trying to get out. His yells were muffled through the metal capsule.

And then something else happened.

His yells softened as his eyes closed and Mokuba went limp. His arms dropped to their sides. His body crashed back down into the seat.

My little brother laid motionless in the capsule.

_"What the? WHAT DID __GOZABURO__ DO?!" _I thought.

_"Why don't we see how little __Mokuba__ is doing?" _Gozaburo asked. He faded into the screen and the progress screen was shown. Mokuba was lying on the ground. He slowly got up, his legs and knees wobbling.

"Wh-What is this place...? Where's Seto?! Where's Noah!?" Mokuba said, getting frantic and he stood up on the ground. He began to look around the place frantically, his eyes wide with fear. He looked around frantically.

"Everything seems so pixelated! WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!" Mokuba said in fear. My eyes widened.

Gozaburo was going to pay for that!

"MOKUBA!" Noah and I yelled in unison, as Gozaburo appeared once again on the screen, leaving us to wonder about Mokuba.

_"He must be trying to test me!" _I thought.

"I'm coming, Mokuba!" I said, running over to a capsule. I didn't get in, though.

Noah ran towards the one next to me and got inside. Metal bars clasped around his wrists and ankles as well. Soon, the suction cups did as well. Noah's eyes widened. His eyes closed.

I heard the doors to KaibaCorp open and I heard footsteps walking around the place.

"It's gramps, Yug!" I heard Joey say.

"Ah! It's a good thing the paramedics just arrived. Over here! This man right here needs to be taken to the hospital!" I heard Téa say.

And then I heard a bed being rolled into KaibaCorp. Next, I heard Solomon Muto being rolled out, the wheels clacking on the tiled floor.

"Hey? I hear someth-TÉA!" I heard Tristan shout.

"Something's goin' on in here." I heard Téa's voice as she walked into the room with Yugi and the others.

"KAIBA!? NOAH!? What're you guys doing?!" Tristan called to us.

"NYEH!? Who duh heck is dat?!" Joey asked, pointing to the screen.

"My stepfather Gozaburo! He kidnapped Mokuba and now Noah and I are gonna get him out of there. With Gozaburo running the place, who KNOWS what he has in store!?" I said as I quickly got into a capsule.

The glass lid closed in on me. The metal locks clasped themselves around my wrists and legs.

"We'll help!" Yugi said, running up to my capsule. Then he looked around and got into a different capsule. His friends did the same.

The metal locks closed around my ears. This was really just a job for Noah and I, but since Yugi and his friends are now helping us out, we can find Mokuba even quicker than with just Noah and I.

"I...promise...we'll-!" Yugi's voice faded from my ears as I felt a very strange sensation. I wanted to yell mentally.

I knew where I was headed now.

_"I__'ll save you, __Mokuba__! Hang on!"_

When the sensation faded, I opened my eyes and sat up. I was sitting in grass.

I looked around and saw Yugi and his friends laying on the ground.

They opened their eyes and sat up.

"So I guess we're in the Virtual World now or somethin'?" Joey said.

"No, we're just outside." I said sarcastically.

Joey looked at me.

"...Uh...we are?" He asked.

"No! We're in the Virtual World, Wheeler." I said, giving him a glare.

"Oh yeah!" Joey said.

I stood up.

_"Why is he seriously in here?" _I thought. I looked around and noticed that Noah wasn't with us.

I began to walk away.

"Kaiba, where are you going?" Yugi asked. I turned around.

"To find Noah and save Mokuba." I said. I turned back around and began walking away.

"Hey! Don't walk away without us!" I heard Joey say. I turned around again. Tristan, Téa, Yugi, and Joey all stood up.

"Yeah! You may not like it, but we're all in this together, Kaiba!" Téa said. I turned back around to face them.

"You think that just because we're all in here together makes me part of yer little pep squad? Think again. Ya got the wrong idea. Adios." I said while turning around and beginning to run away.

Nothing could stop me from saving my little brother, and I wouldn't let those dorks slow me down.

"KAIBA!" Joey shouted.

"JUST TRY AND KEEP UP, GEEKS!" I shouted back.

As I continued running, I looked up ahead and saw Noah standing there.

"HEY! NOAH, RIGHT?! HEY!" Joey yelled. Noah looked up from looking at something on the ground.

I recognized what they were.

Duel Disks.

Looks like we're gonna duel soon, Gozaburo!

_End __chapter_


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: A Small Plan

**Noah's POV**  
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the blue sky of the Virtual World. I looked to my left side.

"They're not next to me? I thought we would have spawned close to each other." I muttered.

I stood up and looked around the Virtual World. Seto and his friends weren't with me. I guess we got separated, which was kind of strange, but oh well. I looked around the place.

Yes...yes. It was just how I imagined it when my Father and I were working on it.

Hm?

Yes, there was actually a time when I was helping my Father build this. It wasn't for a very long time though. He eventually began working on it himself because it was cutting in with my education.

Because of that, I never got to see what the finished Virtual World looked like.

As I looked around, something about it seemed different, and I don't mean because Mokuba was kidnapped and waiting for us.

I looked down and noticed a pile of Duel Disks right in front of me.

"Those must be for us." I muttered.

The thing about the Duel Disks is that they weren't there before.

I guess when they became popular enough to reach Father he implemented them in here somehow. He must have spread into an actual computer, somehow got ahold of a lot of Duel Disks, get a firm grip on them, and then maybe he somehow got back into the Virtual World and put them in here.

What?

Yeah, I know that was extremely asinine. But after all, it's just a guess.

This should be interesting. I have Duel Monsters cards but I don't use them very often. I mainly use them when I want to, and that's it. Mainly if Mokuba wants to duel me sometimes.

"HEY! NOAH, RIGHT?! HEY!" Shouted a familiar voice. It sounded like that Joey Wheeler kid from school. I believe he was a part of the "dork gang", as Seto called Yugi and his friends.

And other names, of course.

Snapping out of my little thoughts of the devices on the ground, I looked up and turned around from the Duel Disks, only to see Yugi and his friends running towards me, including Seto.

With Seto in front of them, actually, and he reached me first.

"Have you seen Mokuba, Noah?" He asked.

"Not at all." I replied.

Seto just kept that angry look on his face.

Joey was waving at me. He and his friends ran over to me.

Once they got closer, Mokuba wasn't anywhere near them.

It made sense since he was here before we arrived, but could he have already walked far away?

And where?

Maybe he found the KaibaCorp in this world. I take it he must've went into Domino City to find a way out of here.

There's a high chance he already found Gozaburo and was probably being held captive by him. Or maybe it was the other way around. Gozaburo could have captured him first instead of Mokuba finding Gozaburo.

The thing about that is that I actually _KNEW_ where the exit was.

Yugi and his friends didn't notice the Duel Disks on the ground, but Seto did. I saw him looking at them when Yugi and his friends had been running over to me.

"Took you long enough." Seto said to Yugi and his gang.

"Hey! It's because you got a head start, rich boy!" Joey said, glaring at Seto.

"Can you not fight now? Save it for later, guys!" Téa said.

"She's right, guys. So did you find Mokuba?" Yugi asked me. I shook my head.

"No. I just woke up not long ago. Maybe he went to the Domino City in this place to get out of here." I said.

Joey tilted his head.

"Why would he go to Domino City in dis place?" He asked.

"Maybe because he was looking for a way out of here. There actually is an exit in there. It's in an arcade." I replied.

"Then let's go!" Joey said, beginning to run. Tristan grabbed his collar and stopped him.

"HEY! Tristan, whaddareya-"

"Calm down, man. I don't think he was done speaking yet."

"He wasn't?" Joey asked. He looked at me. I nodded. He grinned and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry! Continue." He said. I nodded.

"Anyway, before we can escape with Mokuba, we'll need to find Father and defeat some monsters on the way. There are some alleyways in this place, so they might jump out at us from those alleyways unexpectedly sometimes." I said, finishing my sentence from earlier.

"Then let's go." Seto said, arms crossed.

"Oh. Well, we'll take 'em on!" Joey said, bending down and seemingly not caring about what Seto said. Joey grabbed a Duel Disk and placed it on his left arm. He grinned.

Yugi bent down, grabbed one, and slid it onto his left arm as well like Joey did.

"Yeah! We'll make sure they can't harm us." Yugi said.

Next, Téa and Tristan bent down and grabbed a Duel Disk as well and slid it onto their left arms.

"Just in case if we should help." Téa said, grinning.

"Yeah!" Tristan said, nodding.

Joey just gave them a look.

"Eh? But you guys hardly duel." He said.

Téa and Tristan just shrugged.

Seto bent down and put his Duel Disk on his left arm, frowning as always. After that, we started discussing a plan on how to take Gozaburo down. Decks appeared in everyone's Duel Disks.

"Hey, they even appeared in here!" Joey said.

"I guess this place sensed the deck we used before we arrived." I said.

"Guess so." Joey responded.

"So what's the plan?" Yugi asked.

"Let's just rescue Mokuba and get outta here." Seto said.

"Sounds good." Joey said.

"Wait." I said. Everyone looked at me.

"What about the monsters we might face?" I asked.

"If they come at us, attack. If Gozaburo has a monster we'll need to attack, that depends on how strong it is." Seto said.

"Alright! So like a video game!" Joey said.

Everyone just looked at Joey.

"No, Wheeler. This is real life. Life isn't a game." Seto said. Joey just shrugged.

"I was kiddin', Kaiba." He said.

"Sure you were, man. Sure." Tristan said.

Yugi and his girlfriend just facepalmed.

At least I think they were dating.

I think her name was Téa? Sounds about right. Maybe I'll remember it for sure on this little journey, if I could even call this that.

"Whether we attack depends on where the monsters jump out at us." Seto said.

Joey just looked confused.

"I think what Seto means is that if monsters jump out at us from a certain place, whoever is facing the monster will have to fight it." I explained.

"He's right. If a monster jumps out at me, I'll have to fight it, and you will all go ahead of me." Seto said.

"Ah, got it! I understand now!" Joey said.

"Are we all ready?" I asked.

"Yup!" Yugi said.

"I'm all ready!" Téa said.

"What're we waitin' for?! Let's go rescue Mokuba!" Joey said with that familiar grin on his face.

We all looked at Tristan. He held up his Duel Disk.

"Count me in! Tristan Taylor is here on a mission!"

We all looked at him.

"...What?" He asked.

No one responded.

"Are we done here?" Seto asked.

We all nodded.

"Then let's go." He said, and started running ahead of us.

After all that happened, we started running towards the city. Seto was the one in the lead, of course, as he took off immediately after we stopped talking.

_"__Father, you took it too far this time! I hope you're ready to face me, __Seto__, and his friends!" _I thought.

Here we come, Mokuba!

I stopped running when I remembered something.

Everyone except me ran into the virtual Domino City as I stayed behind.

Why didn't I go with them?

I needed a Duel Disk.

"Wait! Hold up for a moment!" I called out to them. Everyone turned around to face me, Seto looking even more impatient than ever.

_End __chapter_


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32: An Antihero And Heroes Work Together

**Seto's POV**  
After we all thought of a plan on how to take Gozaburo down, we all turned around and began running towards the virtual version of Domino City.

"Wait! Hold up for a moment!" Noah said.

We all stopped running and turned around. Noah was bending down. He grabbed a Duel Disk and slid it onto his left arm like the rest of us. He had cards in them, which I assume were cards that already belonged to him, just like the rest of us and how all of our cards belonged to us.

Luckily for Noah, we weren't far ahead of him so it would be easy for him to catch up with us after he finished putting the Duel Disk on his arm.

"Are you done, man?" Tristan asked, making Noah look at him. Noah nodded, so we all turned around and started running back into the virtual version of Domino City.

Even though it was a virtual version, this Domino City looked a lot like the real Domino City. Even though it was pixelated, you could barely tell that it was pixelated.

_"Talk about high quality technology.__ Looks like __Gozaburo__ really put a lot of effort into this place." _I thought as I continued running.

Noah was behind us, but he had soon caught up to us and he was now on my right side. A Duel Disk was on his left arm.

I didn't bother to look over at him or at anyone else. I was too focused on finding Mokuba and saving him.

I didn't bother to wonder why Noah knew so much. I didn't care about that, or at least I didn't care right now. I figured I could ask why later.

I sped up. Everyone else was close behind me.

We eventually heard a yell come from behind us.

"AYAYAUUH!"

It was Joey who had yelled out like that. We all stopped running and turned around to see what had happened. A monster had jumped out at Joey from the side of a baleful alley, catching him by surprise. Yugi had been standing next to him. The monster didn't look familiar at all, so I guess it was just a random monster in this virtual world.

Another one jumped out at them, but this time it came out from Yugi's side of the alley.

"It's time to duel, Joey!" Yugi said, holding up his Duel Disk and taking a card out of his Duel Disk.

Joey nodded.

"Right, Yug!" He said, holding up his Duel Disk as well. He also took a card out. Noah and I jogged in place. We began to turn around after they summoned their monsters in attack mode.

It was Joey's Flame Swordsman and Yugi's Summoned Skull. I heard both Yugi and Joey shout "ATTACK!"

And they even said it at the same time.

Téa and Tristan held up their Duel Disks as well. They wanted to fight the monsters off like Yugi and Joey. Noah turned around again to look at them as he and I stopped running and stood in place.

"Your decks are touching that Duel Disk bar, but have you dueled a lot? If not, you might not be able to fight those monsters so easily." Noah said.

Téa and Tristan looked at each other. Téa was about to open her mouth when Tristan covered her mouth.

"Well, I guess you guys will need some back up in finding Mokuba anyway, right? Also in case if anything happens along the way." Tristan said. He uncovered Téa's mouth.

"That's true." She said.

Noah and I turned around again and began running as they turned around and started running with the both of us. I looked behind me once more to see Yugi and Joey fending off the monsters, with Yugi looking a little different from behind.

I just looked forward and tried to get that off my mind. I had to be stressed out. Yeah, that's it. After all, I run a company at age eighteen.

Either way, I knew that both Yugi and Joey took cards out of their Duel Disks and used them to fight the monsters that attacked them.

I shook my head as I realized I had let myself begin to slow up.

I immediately began to speed up once I noticed this.

After all, Mokuba's life was at stake. I couldn't allow myself to slow down, even if only for a short moment.

Especially over something as stupid as someone looking a little different. Besides, it happens sometimes with people, but I guess it's only if they feel the need to change.

_"Don't worry about it. It's just your imagination. __Yugi__ doesn't look different at all. __Yugi__ isn't important right now. You have to save __Mokuba__ anyway! THAT'S what's important!"_ I thought.

As we continued running, we looked to our side and saw an arcade.

"Noah! Is that the same arcade you were talking about earlier over there? The one with the exit and all that?" Téa asked Noah. We stopped running.

Noah nodded.

"Yes, but first we must get to KaibaCorp to rescue Mokuba. Then we can get out of here after we rescue him!" Noah said, looking over at Téa.

"So...where IS the KaibaCorp in this place?" Tristan asked. I began running again.

I pointed ahead as it began to come into my view.

"There! I see it!" I said.

"Then let's get faster! Slow down!" Téa said, and we sped up. I didn't respond and just continued running.

Soon, we got to this virtual KaibaCorp and we were panting heavily. We were standing outside its doors.

"M-Maybe he could...wait...w-where could that guy...be? Somewhere...in-inside?" Tristan wheezed.

"I-I might...k-know where." Noah said, wheezing heavily like the rest of us. We all stopped to catch our breath for a bit. When we finished, we followed him inside the building. Joey and Yugi had caught up to us.

"SHEESH! IT'S COLD IN HERE!" Shouted a familiar voice. I looked over and saw that it was Joey. He started rubbing his arms to keep warm.

_"He sure has pointed out a lot of things since we've been in here. Obvious things. Will he ever stop and just be quiet for a change?"_ I thought.

"Yeah, you're right about it being cold, Joey. It might get colder as we walk further into KaibaCorp. But let's not let that stop us. We need to rescue Mokuba and get out of here." Noah said.

I looked at Noah. He began to rub his arms. I could hear Yugi and the rest of his friends also began to rub their arms a little bit behind me.

Noah led us through this version of KaibaCorp. I noticed right away that everything seemed to be dark and eerie, and also a bit gelid in this version of KaibaCorp. Looks like Joey was right.

It began to get even colder as we walked farther into KaibaCorp. Compared to now, the entrance wasn't even that cold.

I didn't dare shiver. Instead, I crossed my arms tightly around my chest. I made sure that I didn't let Noah out of my sight. I didn't look around for a long time and stopped shortly after and just followed Noah. Yugi and his friends were behind me the whole time. They might have crossed their arms tightly around their chests by now.

_"Looks like Joey was right when he said that it was cold in here earlier. Must be because __Gozaburo__ is running this place. He's never been a warm person as long as I've known him, so I guess his cold personality rubbed off in this __KaibaCorp__. It seems like the more we walk, the colder it gets. We must be getting closer to him." _I thought.

Noah led us up to the room in the middle of the third floor. I knew it was familiar just from looking at the doors. I recognized it.

I knew that it was the same room where I overthrew Gozaburo out of his company. We opened the doors and walked inside.

Well, it wasn't the same exact room. We remodeled some rooms of KaibaCorp a while back and that room was remodeled in here.

So it wasn't exactly the same room, but at the same time, it kinda was. It brought back the memory of when Mokuba and I kicked Gozaburo out of his company. It also reminded me of that time where I got a million dollars from Gozaburo for my birthday.

Sure enough, there was Gozaburo, holding tightly onto my little brother Mokuba's wrist. But he was standing up and not sitting down at the very last seat like he normally would in that room.

That's what was different! The long table was no longer there. I could run over to Gozaburo and save Mokuba just like that.

It wasn't so cold anymore now that we were in the room with Gozaburo and Mokuba.

"At least that part's over with..." I muttered. I looked straight ahead.

"Seto! Help!" Mokuba shouted.

"Mokuba!" I started to run towards him, but then I stopped. I was now in the middle of the room. I realized something-how did Gozaburo get in the Virtual World anyway?

"Gozaburo, how did you get in the Virtual World?!" I asked-well, more like shouted at-him.

"I was so close to completing the Virtual World. Once I completed it, after you took over, Seto, I knew I didn't stand a chance. I asked Gansley, Leitcher, Johnson, Nezbitt, and Crump to help me. Once I digitized my mind into this world, they made sure to hide it in a place where I knew you wouldn't look. So now you know how I'm in here." Gozaburo explained.

I just glared at him. I looked at Mokuba.

_"Don't worry, __Mokuba__. You'll be fine soon." _I thought. Nothing could stop me from getting him back.

"So is that why you asked me to call the big five into that room that time, Father?" Noah asked.

"Yes. I asked you to get them for me so that I could get into the Virtual World. That is why I had that meeting with them." Gozaburo said.

Although I still may have been a little confused, it wasn't important now.

After about a minute after Gozaburo told us about how he was in this world, Téa started looking around.

"Where's Joey? Did he get lost on the way up here? I could've sworn he was with us earlier." She said.

"She's right!" Tristan said.

Well, like Tristan already said, Téa was right.

In no time at all-well, maybe about three minutes or so-Joey ran into the same room with us.

"I got lost. Sorry!" Said Joey, a sheepish grin on his face. He walked further into the room and stood beside Noah. Yugi stepped closer to Gozaburo.

But Yugi still looked different. Taller. More like a teenager, in other words. He had a much more deeper voice when he spoke now, so I guess when I looked behind me earlier while running, the whole Yugi looking taller thing wasn't a mind trick after all. However, I still couldn't be sure.

I blinked as I tried to figure it all out. Everyone walked next to me.

_"Is this my imagination? Maybe how we're currently trying to save __Mokuba__ is making me think that __Yugi__ looks different. I must be stressed. That's the only logical explanation I can think of."_ I thought.

"Gozaburo, hand over Mokuba!" Yugi shouted, walking closer to us. He stood next to Noah while Joey stood next to me.

Gozaburo shook his head.

"No. Not until he helps me take over the Virtual World."

Mokuba broke out of Gozaburo's grasp. Gozaburo grabbed Mokuba and held onto him tightly, his arm around Mokuba's neck. Out of instinct, Mokuba put his hands to Gozaburo's arm and tried to pry it off him.

My eyes widened as I saw this.

_"DON'T YOU DARE HURT MY LITTLE BROTHER, __GOZABURO__!" _I thought as I clenched my fists in anger, my blue eyes burning into own his eyes.

Noah stepped forward.

"And just how can he help you with the Virtual World when this is the first time he's been introduced to it? I've had enough, Father! We're all going to destroy you-and this time, permanently!" Noah said. He took out a card, but I couldn't see the monster since he was so far away from me.

"Not so fast, Noah! Seto, do you remember all the people who've been mean to you over the years? It's time you face them again!" Gozaburo said. I saw Noah put his card down.

People began to materialize and stand around us. I saw kids I had beat up for Mokuba, that kid from the game shop, that creepy old man from when we were standing outside the hospital, and even that awful Mikono couple. I never wanted to see their faces again. Even though they're in a virtual reality, they still brought back memories.

Except one of them was a boy who looked slightly familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen him.

Wait...a name was starting to come to me.

And no, it wasn't Brandon.

I was about to take a card from my deck that I thought should end them all with one attack, but then I heard Joey's voice.

"I got dis, guys!" He said.

Joey ran to the creepy old man and punched him. Next, he punched the mean kids, that weird game shop girl, and even the Mikono's. All my former enemies disappeared in one punch.

He was about to attack the last boy, but that was when I remembered his name: Robert.

I started walking towards Robert.

"Wait, Wheeler. This one's personal." I said.

"Eh? Okay." Joey said as he ran back to where he was before he took care of the other virtual enemies.

I took a card from my deck. It was Saggi the Dark Clown, but it was good enough to defeat him.

"Attack him, Saggi!"

Saggi rushed at Robert and gave him one swift punch, causing him to fade into pixels. Saggi also shattered as I began walking away.

Once I was in my original spot, we all turned our attention back to Gozaburo.

"And to finish what I started, I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode!" Noah said, putting a card face up on his Duel Disk. His Luster Dragon came out of its card.

Joey took out a card.

"I summon Red Eyes Black Dragon in attack mode!" He said, putting his card face up on his Duel Disk. His Red Eyes Black Dragon came out of its card.

Next, Yugi drew a card.

"I summon the Dark Magician in attack mode!"

Yugi put The Dark Magician face up on his Duel Disk. The Dark Magician came out of his card as well.

And then, I drew a card.

"I call on Blue Eyes White Dragon in attack mode!"

Yup. You guessed it.

I put my Blue Eyes face up on my Duel Disk. My Blue Eyes White Dragon came out of its card.

"Those monsters...no! No!" Gozaburo yelled. His grip loosened from Mokuba's neck. Mokuba began backing away from Gozaburo.

The next thing that happened surprised me.

Tristan and Téa stepped up. They looked at each other and grinned.

"Ready, Téa?" Tristan said, looking at Téa. She grinned. They both stood next to me.

"Oh yeah, Tristan!"

Tristan took a card out of his deck.

"I summon my Cyber Commander in attack mode!" He said, putting his Cyber Commander face up on his Duel Disk. The Cyber Commander popped out of his card.

Next was Téa's turn.

"I summon the Dark Magician Girl in attack mode!" She did the same thing as everyone else did. I saw her put it up on her Duel Disk. The Dark Magician Girl popped out of her card.

We all looked at them and grinned. Well, everyone except me. I just glared right at Gozaburo. I was determined to defeat him once and for all.

I looked over at Mokuba. He looked surprised, but then he had a smile on his face. However, even though I was staring at Gozaburo, I was pretty surprised that Tristan and Téa were helping us out. It seemed like time was going by slowly.

"Dark Magician, use your dark magic attack!"

"Blue Eyes, white lightning attack! Let's go!"

"Attack 'im with inferno fiah blast, Red Eyes!"

"Luster Dragon, attack!"

"Cyber Commander, attack!"

"Dark Magician Girl, use your dark burning attack!"

"NNNNOOOOOO!" Gozaburo shouted as our monsters attacked him with their attacks. After attacking, they all stood-well, some of them floated-by our sides, awaiting what had happened to Gozaburo and if they should attack again.

"Be on guard. He might still be here." Yugi said, looking at all of us. We all looked at him and nodded. Then we looked back at the spot where Gozaburo had been standing.

I could see a silhouette through the smoke. When the smoke cleared, he was right. Gozaburo was still standing there, but some parts of his body had looked pixelated. It should be easier to defeat him now.

"Ha ha ha! Like your friend with the very bad haircut said, I'm still here! Why don't you all try and attack me again?!" He said. I knew he was teasing us; he had a look on his face as if he were mocking us. It was basically an evil grin.

"BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGON, ATTA-" I didn't get to finish my sentence.

"SETO!" Noah shouted. I stopped my command and looked over at him. My Blue Eyes stopped with its attack as well.

"We're doing this together!" He said with a frown as he glared at me. Everyone else nodded.

I just frowned.

Then Noah looked at everyone.

"One more time, everyone!" Noah said.

"Dark Magician, attack him with your dark magic attack again!" Yugi said.

"Red Eyes, use ya inferno fiah blast attack again!" Joey said.

"Attack him, Luster Dragon!" Said Noah.

"Cyber Commander, attack!"

"Dark burning attack once more, Dark Magician girl!"

Every attack that hit Gozaburo made his body become even more damaged.

But that's when he caught us by surprise.

He started laughing. He held up his left arm. A Duel Disk appeared on his left arm.

"He has a Duel Disk!" Téa said.

_"Yeah, no kidding."_

He took a card out from his deck.

"Since you and your little friends have attacked more than once, it's my turn! I summon a monster in attack mode. But now, I sacrifice that monster to summon Exodia Necross in attack mode! This monster is invincible!" Gozaburo said as he placed the card on his Duel Disk.

Now that things were getting heated, Mokuba ran away from Gozaburo and towards the door, but he didn't walk out.

Exodia Necross popped out of his card. He looked almost exactly like Yugi's Exodia, but this Exodia's colors were darker.

_"Invincible? Yeah, right. I can find a weakness somehow." _I thought.

"Now, Exodia Necross! Attack Cyber Commander!" Gozaburo said.

With one swift punch, Tristan's Cyber Commander disappeared.

Next it was our turn again. We all attacked him once more, except for Tristan.

_"It barely looks like we made any scratches on __Exodia__Necross__! Wait! __What if we shouldn't be attacking his body!? Maybe I should be attacking his soul! If that's the case, I have the perfect card for that!"_

"Seto, this world wasn't made for duels! Duel Monster rules don't apply here!" Noah said.

"I see. That's even better!" I said.

Noah looked at me in confusion.

It was up to me now. My Blue Eyes White Dragon looked at me, probably wondering if I would stop my command like last time. I knew everyone was looking at me. Gozaburo was very damaged by the time it was my turn.

I grinned.

"Looks like it's checkmate, Gozaburo. It's my turn now!" I said, drawing a card. I looked at it.

Soul Demolition. That was just the card I needed!

I put it in the few slots of my Duel Disk.

"I activate my trap card Soul Demolition! I pay five hundred life points to activate this card. It allows me to attack Exodia Necross' soul! So you think Exodia Necross is invincible, huh, Gozaburo?! I think not! Now I'll recall every piece of Exodia the Forbidden One! Exodia's left leg!" I said.

The left leg of Exodia Necross faded away from a very dark blue-almost purple-and turned into a dark gold type of color.

"Exodia's right leg!"

Exodia Necross' leg turned into a dark gold.

"Exodia's left arm!"

The arm faded into a dark gold.

"Exodia's right arm!"

Same happened to that arm.

"And now the head of Exodia the Forbidden One!"

The head faded into what looked like Exodia's original color.

"And now I'll attack! Blue Eyes, use your white lightning attack on Exodia Necross and Gozaburo one more time!" I commanded, finishing my command from earlier.

My Blue Eyes looked back at Gozaburo as it opened its mouth. Gozaburo and his Exodia Necross soon became shrouded by the beam that came from the mouth of my Blue Eyes, screaming as the light engulfed him. His Exodia began crying out too, a sign that he was fading away with Gozaburo. A bright white light illuminated the room, making us all shield our eyes.

After my final attack, we had finally destroyed Gozaburo. When the room became dimmer, we all opened our eyes and looked at the spot where Gozaburo had been standing.

Gozaburo was gone for good. He was nowhere to be seen.

_"Thanks for the information, __Gozaburo__." _I thought. I looked at where he once stood.

We finally destroyed him for good. He wasn't standing there when the smoke cleared like last time. No way would he come for us after we saw him fade away right in front of our very own eyes!

I literally mean that. After we attacked him for the second time, he just kinda faded into pixels, went up into the air, and vanished. It was an interesting thing to see, though.

I know I would never say this, but it almost seemed like magic. It's not like I would tell anyone that I thought of that nonsense, though.

Everyone, including me, congratulated their monsters on a job well done. I even had my Blue Eyes bend down so I could rub its head. After we thanked our monsters for helping us defeat Gozaburo, we called them back into our decks. Our Duel Disks disappeared from our arms.

I put my hands in the pockets of my pants as I looked around the room. Yugi's gang walked away from their spots and stood near each other.

I could've sworn I also saw Joey do a weird chin face thing. Joey and Tristan headbutted each other.

"WE DID IT, BRO!" Joey said.

"YEAH WE DID, DUDE!" Said Tristan.

All I did was stay quiet, a frown on my face as usual.

Mokuba was free for good. He ran over to me but stopped. The ceiling began to crumble. I took my hands out of my pockets as I walked over to my little brother.

Mokuba was just fine. No scratches, no bruises, nothing that I could see.

_"That's good. __Gozaburo__ would pay if he did something as simple as slapping his face."_

The attack of Joey's monster caused flames to crawl across the already crumbling ceiling.

I grabbed Mokuba's wrist almost instantly and ran out of the KaibaCorp building.

"Thanks, guys!" Mokuba said, smiling at us.

"Uuuhh, guys? I think we should get out of here. Like now." Téa said.

We all started running. I ended up running ahead of them. We had just gotten out of virtual KaibaCorp when Mokuba said:

"Slow down, Seto!" He said. I didn't say a word.

"I said-"

"I know what you said, Mokuba!"

This resulted in me picking him up and running while holding him with only my right hand. We ran into the virtual town of Domino City.

After running for a few minutes, we all looked behind us.

The top half of the building of virtual KaibaCorp had crumbled, an explosion of dust, debris, and fire in the air.

Joey called on his Red Eyes Black Dragon again and pointed at the building.

"Inferno fiah blast!" He said.

His dragon gathered a powerful fire blast in its throat and launched it at the building. This caused the fireball to just blast through the entire building, causing an even bigger explosion as the virtual KaibaCorp crumbled to the ground.

We began to run again, but Noah stopped us.

"Wait! We're here!" Noah said, pointing to an arcade next to us after we had been running for a minute or so.

We listened to him and walked inside. I set Mokuba back on the ground. He stood next to me.

"Where's dah exit? You sure we're in dah right place?" Joey asked as he looked around the arcade.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure. Follow me." Noah said, beckoning us with his index finger. We followed him through the dark building.

As we were walking through the arcade to reach the exit of this place, I heard a conversation with Tristan, Téa, and Joey:

"Wow guys, that was pretty cool a' ya t' help us out!" Joey said.

"Of course, dude! We didn't wanna miss out on all the fun!" Tristan said. He looked at Téa.

"Right, Téa?"

"Yeah! Besides, why not? We're in here for a reason, and that was to help rescue Mokuba. And hey, the more the monsters and attacks we had, I figured that Gozaburo would go down quicker." Téa said.

_"I guess she's right about that last part." _I thought.

I guess Joey nodded next.

"Yeah, you got dat right!" I heard him say.

When we finally stopped walking, we were standing in front of a dance platform. We all walked to the side so we could see it better.

"Is this a dance platform, Noah?" Téa asked. Noah nodded.

"Yes it is. Stand on the magenta circle on the right. When I was working on this with my Father a long time ago, he told me that this dance platform is how you can get back to our own world." Noah said.

Téa nodded and followed his orders.

When she stood on the circle, it lit up.

"My body feels kinda weird." She said. Noah nodded.

"That means you're being teleported." He explained.

Then a blue aura shot up around Téa. When it cleared, she was gone. She teleported.

_"Guess it'll be easier to get back home than I thought."_ I thought.

"My turn!" Joey said. He got onto the circle and looked down. The circle lit up.

"My body also feels kinda w-WHOA!" He shouted. The blue aura shot up around him. He didn't get to finish his sentence.

When it cleared, Joey had also teleported somewhere, just like Téa did. It was interesting to see how we were being teleported.

Next was Tristan. He stood on the circle. It lit up, and the blue aura came up around him, and he was gone when it cleared.

After Tristan teleported, then came Mokuba, then Yugi, and finally, me. I stood on that magenta circle, just like everyone else did.

"What about you, Noah?" I asked.

Noah nodded.

"I'll come home soon. Go on without me."

I nodded.

"Fine."

I looked down at the magenta circle. I felt a whoosh of air all around me. I looked around and saw that blue aura that had engulfed everyone else. I could hardly see anything through it. My body started to dissolve. I really _WAS_ being teleported!

When the dissolving of my body finally finished, I woke up in my capsule. My body no longer felt weird.

The lid of my capsule opened. The metal clasps around my wrists and ankles went back into the capsule. The suction cups around my ears also went back into the capsule.

I sat up in my capsule. I stood up, got out of the capsule, and saw Mokuba, looking the way he normally looks. I hope this experience didn't rattle him too much.

Luckily, I don't think it scared him a lot. He smiled as soon as he saw me.

"Seto!" He said. I walked over to him.

"I'm glad you're safe, Mokuba." I said.

I was happy to see him, though. I know he wasn't gone for very long, but still.

He's my little brother. We've been through so much together, so it wouldn't be right if I weren't happy to see him, right?

When I turned around from Mokuba, I saw Yugi and his other geek friends looking at me. They seemed normal as well.

I looked at Noah's capsule. He was still inside. The metal clasps were still around his wrists and ankles. The suction cups were still on his ears. His eyes were closed.

_"Whatever it is you're doing in there, you'd better hurry it up, Noah." _I thought.

What could be taking so long?  
**Noah's POV**  
After everyone else had gone back to the real world, I walked out of the arcade and looked at where the virtual KaibaCorp once stood.

"Good bye forever, Virtual World. You won't be missed." I said. This might sound weird, but I was kinda glad that I got to experience the Virtual World.

Except for the fact that it was being run by my nefarious excuse for a Father and that it couldn't have been a normal, peaceful experience.

I began walking through the Virtual World for one last time. I walked to where we spawned, through the town, and even to the virtual Kaiba Corporation.

Well, the rubble, at least.

"Your evil reign finally ends here, Father." I said, crossing my arms and staring at the collapsed rubble of the Virtual World that was that was sitting on the ground before me.

As I stared at the rubble, I realized something.

What if he was still here? What if he wasn't dead for good?

I know it was stupid since we all saw him disappear right in front of us, but I had to at least make sure.

_"After all, I could never be too sure with my Father. I did see him in the Virtual World room just staring down at me from that TV. That sure was a surprise."_ I thought.

I stepped onto the remains of Virtual KaibaCorp. I bent down and looked through each piece of rubble.

There was no sign of my Father anywhere.

I stood back up after picking up each piece of rubble that I could pick up-and yes, I looked at the ground where they originally were as well when I picked them up and didn't just throw the rubble to the side-and made my way back to where I had been standing.

"My life certainly has been one adventure after the other." I said as I looked at the rubble before me.

Looking back into my memories, what I had said about my life being one big adventure after the other was true.

My stepbrothers had been in my dreams a lot, I had talked about wanting siblings a lot of times in my life, they eventually came into my life, Seto threw him out of his own company, Seto ran KaibaCorp, and now this entire debacle.

"Yes...one big adventure after the other indeed." I said. Those years after Seto began to run KaibaCorp went by fast. I still remember those days like they were yesterday.

But I was grateful. I was able to experience what it was like to have siblings, what it was like to go to an actual school and not be homeschooled, and most importantly, thanks to my stepbrothers, I had learned what it was like to be happy.

"Thanks, Seto and Mokuba." I said as a smile crossed onto my face.

I didn't kick anymore rubble. There was no need to. I had my fun. It was time to go home now. I know Seto and Mokuba must be really worried about me by now, or maybe impatient as to why I was still here.

I couldn't keep them waiting. I didn't even know how long I was in this world for myself. We could have been in here for an hour and not even realize it due to all the excitement.

After that, I turned around and walked away from virtual KaibaCorp and back into the arcade, closed the doors behind me, and I proceeded to walk back to the dance platform. I stepped on the magenta circle.

I looked down at the magenta circle. It lit up. I felt a whoosh of air around me. The blue aura appeared.

My body began to dissolve posthaste.

"ONCE AGAIN, GOOD BYE FOREVER, VIRTUAL WORLD!" I shouted as I was disappearing.  
**Back to Seto's POV**  
We were all still waiting for Noah to come out of his capsule. What was taking him so long?

I was impatient. I was almost tempted to just leave him in there and then just check on him later.

After a few more minutes of waiting, Noah finally opened his eyes. The metal bars and suction cups unclasped themselves from his ankles, wrists, and ears. His capsule lid opened. He sat up and got out of his capsule. He stood next to it and rubbed his eyes.

After he finished, he noticed me and smiled. He started to walk away from his capsule.

I frowned and crossed my arms.

Why?

Because as of right now, he had some questions to answer.

"What took you so long, Noah?" I asked.

His expression changed, but he didn't say a word. He looked nervous now.

I repeated my question.

_End __chapter_


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33: How Seto Feels About His Family

Everything that had just happened was beyond crazy.

Noah knew about Gozaburo and that entire thing for who knows how long.

He never told us.

Mokuba just got kidnapped for what seemed like the thirtieth time.

Now he was back and Gozaburo was gone.

I glared at Noah as he got out of his capsule. Noah walked over to us and smiled. But when he noticed me, his smile faded. Everyone was now staring at us, the air growing tense.

"Seto, what is it?" Noah asked.

"Why didn't you tell me about this before, Noah, and what took you so long to come out of the Virtual World?" I demanded, still glaring at him.

Noah looked down, squirming. He was avoiding my gaze. He must have been thinking of a good answer for my question. It better be a good answer.

"For the second question, the reason I stayed in there longer than you guys did was just to check on the Virtual World some more and to make sure that my Father wasn't in there and that he was gone for good. I also wanted to stay in there for a little while longer because that was the first time I was in there and I'll never be in there again. As for the first question, I kept it a secret because I knew you'd get very angry if you found out." He said, looking at me now.

I crossed my arms. No wonder why he was squirming earlier! People who hide secrets or tell lies often seem to do that.

"You're such a fool, Noah. I guess it seems like something you would do. Keeping the secret from us about Gozaburo being in the computer, though...feh! Sleazeball."

_"E__ven if it would take a longer amount of time, __I could've taken care of __Gozaburo__ myself." _I thought, my words echoing around in my head.

"I only did that because I care about you guys. Besides, it happened a few days later after you took over KaibaCorporation." Noah said.

"Save it! I know that's a lie." I said.

"But it's true!" Noah said.

At that moment, Mokuba walked up to me, and he was frowning. This should be good.

"Leave him alone, Seto! I liked you better when we were younger and when you smiled! If he says he cares about us, then he does! Why would he lie?! We're family, aren't we?!" Mokuba shouted up at me.

I looked down at Mokuba.

"Be quiet, Mokuba. You don't know anything!" I said.

Mokuba looked hurt and looked down at the ground. I regretted what I said internally, but there was nothing I could do to take back what I said.

"But...Seto..." I heard him mutter.

_"__I'm__sorry__, __Mokuba__. __You__know__I've__changed__."_I thought.

Mokuba looked back up at me with a sad look on his face. He slowly walked back over to Noah, his head down as he stared at the ground.

"Stop yelling at them, Kaiba." Yugi said, frowning. He looked at me in the eyes.

"_Is this a magic trick? Why is __Yugi's__ voice still deeper and why is he still taller after I saw him in that room with __Gozaburo__?" _I thought.

"And you call yerself a brother? Nah! You're a psycho!" Joey said to me. My eyes trailed from Yugi and I found myself looking at Joey.

"Zip it, Wheeler." I shot back at him.

Joey sighed angrily while shaking his head. He stepped closer to me.

"What happened to ya, Kaiba?" Joey asked me.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Fine?! No way! You're not fine!" Téa said to me.

"Stay out of this." I said.

Yugi turned to her and nodded.

"We'll handle this, Téa." Yugi said.

Téa nodded and stepped back into the shadows with Tristan.

"Ya call yerself a brother? Nah, you should be an inspiration to them! But yer not. Ya treat them as if they're nothin'." Joey said. Mokuba stepped forward.

"Joey, what are you talkin' about? Seto's an inspiration to me!" Mokuba said.

Joey looked down at him.

"I can't believe what yer sayin'! And after what he said to ya?"

Mokuba looked hurt again and looked down.

"Oh, right...I must've forgotten for a minute...I'm not used to him saying those things to me. He's never done that before." Mokuba replied.

Joey's expression saddened as he looked down at Mokuba. He bent down and smiled.

"Sorry 'bout dat, pal. But what Kaiba's doin'...it just ain't right!" Joey said as he stood back up.

Joey turned from Mokuba and looked back at me.

"Face it, Kaiba. Yer mind's corrupted." He said.

I started laughing. Joey must've had it all wrong!

"Corrupted? Me? My mind?! No, Wheeler! YOUR mind is corrupted!" I said to him. Joey clenched his fists and angrily looked at me. I stopped laughing.

"WHAT'RE YA TALKIN' ABOUT?! How am I corrupted, huh!? At least I try t' do good deeds, unlike YOU!"

Joey had a point there, I'll admit. But it hasn't convinced me.

In the end, all he and his geek friends see is a mean boss of a well known company with a soft side. None of them know or understand what I've done to achieve who I am today.

Well, that corrupted part made him angry.

Joey ran at me with his hands balled into fists. He tried throwing punches at me. I dodged them all.

At some point I had backed up to the point where Joey's fist hit the wall. I walked away.

Joey's eyes widened as he grabbed his fist and started jumping in the air, yelling in pain.

"Ah, geez, that hurts!" Joey said as he started rubbing his hand. Then he noticed me.

"I'm still not done with ya, Kaiba!" He said. He then ran at me, balling his good hand into a fist.

He aimed for my face. Instead of dodging it, I caught it with my right hand. I managed to lower his hand a little bit from my face, but not much.

"Are you done yet?" I asked coldly after I lowered his fist down a little. He seemed like he was out of breath. Joey was panting. He unballed his fist and walked a few steps away from me, back to where he was before. Was he done talking?

No. I was wrong about that.

"I normally win in fist fights! How'd ya manage t' dodge all my fists, huh, Kaiba!?"

"Guess I'm just better when it comes to fighting skills than you are, Wheeler."

Joey gave me an angry look. He was about to say something, but instead, he ran his hands all throughout the back of his hair, making it look messier than usual for a few seconds. He took his hands off his head.

"Do ya remember why I entered dat tournament in Duelist Kingdom?!" Joey asked me, changing the subject after he caught his breath.

"I wasn't there to hear about why you entered, and I don't care about why you entered." I said.

"Well, it was for my little sister! Do you remember her? Her name's Serenity!"

"Your little sister? What kind of a plaintive excuse is that? Try harder, Wheeler!" I said. I looked over into the shadows where Téa, Tristan, Noah, and Mokuba were. Mokuba looked sad. Noah had an arm around his shoulders and he was glaring at me.

"Let him finish, Kaiba. You don't understand." Yugi said.

"Oh, I understand clearly, Yugi. I don't need someone like you telling me what to do."

I turned back to Joey, who was glaring at me.

"Face it, Wheeler. You'll always be an amateur duelist. I'll always be better than you, and we all know it."

Joey laughed once again.

"If that's what ya think, then ya don't know me, Kaiba! I'll keep comin' back 'till I beat ya! Besides, sometimes we've had long duels, now haven't we?"

I smirked.

"So what if we have long duels sometimes? I'm always the victor in the end. I'd like to see you try and actually beat me someday, Wheeler." I said as I laughed and crossed my arms once again.

"Hey, you guys were talking about Serenity!" Tristan called from the corner of the room. Noah, Téa, and Mokuba, who were still in the corner with him, nodded in agreement.

Joey looked at them with a muddled look on his face.

"I was talkin' about my sister?"

They nodded.

"YES!" They all shouted.

"OH YEAH! I remember now!"

Joey turned from his friends and focused his attention back onto me.

"I tried my best t' duel Yugi, but I failed. Yugi took on Pegasus and almost died in the process. But when Yugi won, Yugi gave me dah money for my sister's eye operation, because he cared. And he was only in dat tournament for his grandpa!"

I looked at Joey. Yes, yeah, I was paying attention to what he was saying.

"I couldn't get it t' her-dah money-right away, of course. Some Rare Hunter thieves dueled me an' took away my Red Eyes Black Dragon. But I rushed to the hospital anyway. Y'know why, Kaiba? 'Cause I wanted t' see my sister, an' I wanted her to not feel scared, an' I wanted her to see! 'Cause I love her!" Joey said.

_"__He's beginning t' sound like a peacekeeper. That just doesn't fit Wheeler." _I thought.

Joey continued to stare at me.

"An' when I was possessed by Marik an' when I was almost drowning in the water when I broke through dat possession, Serenity still had those bandages on her eyes. She wasn't supposed to take 'em off until dat night. But she did anyway. An' when she saw me in dah water, she dived in t' save me. An' her eyes were just getting adjusted to dah sun again! Do ya know why Serenity did dat, Kaiba?"

I glared at Wheeler. I knew where this was going.

_"To save you?" _I thought.

He pretty much answered that thought with what he said next.

"It was because she loves me! What about you, eh, Kaiba?! Do ya love yer brothers too like how Serenity an' me love each other!?"

I looked away from Joey and I looked down at the ground.

"YA DON'T!? WHAT?! Joey shouted at me.

"I never said that." I said harshly.

_"I do love them, but I just don't tend to show it. I've been through hard times that you and your friends would never even begin to understand, Wheeler. The only time you'd understand would be if you got it through your thick skull."_

I swear, Joey's an idiot.

Joey raised his left arm up.

"Dat's it, rich boy! We're duelin'!"

I glared at him.

"This isn't the Virtual World, Wheeler. The-"

Joey cut me off.

"So what?!"

I restrained myself from facepalming and instead I crossed my arms.

"The Duel Disks can't appear on our arms like they did in there."

Joey looked surprised as he put his arm down. He slumped over a little.

"Oh. Right."

I continued to look at him, my arms still crossed.

"You really are an amateur."

"WHAT'D YOU SAY T' ME!?"

Before I could respond, Yugi walked up to Joey from behind and put a hand on Joey's shoulder. Joey looked at him.

"You've said enough for now, Joey. I think I should talk to Kaiba for a while."

Joey nodded and walked away.

Well, he didn't actually walk out of the room. He just walked into the corner of the room with Téa, Mokuba, Noah, and Tristan.

"Kaiba, Joey's right."

"Are you kidding me, Yugi?! You're agreeing with a no one like Wheeler!?"

Yugi nodded.

"Unlike you, I stick by my friends. They aren't "no ones" like what you said about Joey." He said.

Yugi walked closer to me.

"Kaiba, haven't you noticed? Your mind truly IS corrupted."

I glared at Yugi.

_"Be quiet!" _I thought.

"Oh yeah, Yugi? What makes you say that? You sure that _you're _not the corrupted one?"

Yugi looked at me.

"Yes, I'm sure that it's you and not me. I noticed your actions in the Virtual World. Your own hate, anger, and desire is what is being fueled inside of you. Darkness is surrounding your heart. You must show people that you truly do care, Kaiba. Don't let hate get in the way of your loved ones or anyone else. I know you may have had a hard life, but think about others for a change."

Joey and Yugi's speeches about family and stuff was right. I _do_ care about my family, and I shouldn't hide it. I guess it also wouldn't hurt to try and be nice to people who weren't my family.

I uncrossed my arms and held them to my sides.

And if I decided to try and be nice to everyone, I knew the people to start with, even though this entire nice thing wouldn't be too easy.

Yugi's gang.

Maybe I could even create Kaiba Land like I wanted to and invite them over there someday.

After this, I knew that I would most likely still be cold to everyone except for my family. You can change, but it could take a while.

"Yugi..."

Yugi looked at me.

"Yes, Kaiba?"

"Get out. I understand what you mean now."

"You do, Kaiba?"

"I do. Now really-get out before I change my mind." I pointed to the door.

Yugi looked at me. Then he walked to the corner of the room and waved at Téa, Tristan, Joey, Noah, and Mokuba, getting their attention.

"Let's go. Kaiba says he understands."

Yugi, now looking normal again, noticed his grandpa's card on the floor. He smiled, picked it up, and put it into his pants pocket.

Even if there's one now, we don't really know. Who knows? I might get my own Blue Eyes Alternative White Dragon in the future someday.

"Right! How could I forget about this?" He asked himself, and started to walk out of the room.

That got me thinking if magic truly was real or not. Maybe it was. You know what? Now that I think about all the events that happened last year, maybe it is real.

Yugi's friends followed him and walked out. I looked down at the ground. I looked up and saw Noah and Mokuba staring at me.

And then Noah and Mokuba walked over to me.

"Do you really love us, Seto?" Noah asked me, frowning and with his arms crossed.

Even though I do love my family, I can't imagine myself ever saying it out loud, but I still nodded. Mokuba smiled.

"Really, big bro?!"

I nodded.

"Yes, Mokuba. Really. And I'm sorry for what I said about you two. I guess it's fair for family members to keep certain secrets from their family at times, especially if it was as big as this one was."

Noah and Mokuba smiled at me.

"Forgiven! And yeah, I think that's true too, Seto!" Mokuba said happily.

I nodded and smiled. I guess I just couldn't help it.

"Seto?! Y-Your face-!" Noah stuttered, and pointed to me as his voice trailed off.

"What about it?" I asked.

Mokuba smiled.

"Seto?! You're SMILING!" Mokuba said.

I knew my lips had been pulled up into some kind of small curve. I really WAS smiling. I smiled again, an even wider smile crossing my face than last time.

"Seto, that's the first time I've seen you smile in a long time." Noah said.

"It really is. I don't even remember the last time I smiled." I replied.

"How about when we were kids?" Noah said.

Noah and Mokuba laughed after Noah said that. They both hugged me. I hugged back.

"We love you, Seto!"

"I love you too!" I said. The words just slipped out of my mouth.

I really did mean what I said.

I put my arms around my brother's shoulders, still smiling, and walked out of the Virtual World room.

After all, love is an essential part of life, right?

Mokuba stepped in front of me and Noah with a grin on his face.

"Hey Seto, how about we duel?"

"Sure, Mokuba."

"Race ya to the dueling room!" Mokuba said as he took off running.

I don't care what people think. I meant what I said.

"Hey!" I said. Noah and I began running after him.

I'll always try to take care of my family, no matter how busy I am. From here on out, I'll try to hang out with them if I have time.

I caught up to Mokuba in the dueling room. He stood on the right side of the room while I stood on the left side.

"I won't go easy on you, Mokuba." I said.

"Let's give it our all, Seto!" Mokuba said with a nod and a grin. I nodded as we began to take some cards out of our deck.

"Now to restart where we left off..." Mokuba said as he took a card out of his hand.

"I summon Man Eating Plant in attack mode!"

I looked through my hand. Did I have Battle Ox?

Yes, I did.

"Just like how I started my first move, I summon Battle Ox and attack your Man Eating Plant!" I said.

Mokuba was down to 3200 life points now.

"Guess what, Seto?! Now I summon Krokodilus in defense mode!" Mokuba said, placing the card on the field.

"Now I place a card face-down and end my turn." Mokuba said, a face-down card spawning on the field.

I looked through my hand. I had my X-Head Cannon in my hand.

"I summon X-Head Cannon in defense mode. Next, I'll have Battle Ox attack your Krokodilus!" I said.

Battle Ox charged at Krokodilus.

"Ha! Take this, Seto! I reveal my face-down card!" Mokuba said, raising his hand and revealing his face-down card.

"Mirror force!?"

"Yup! I bought some new cards, Seto! This reflects your attack!"

Battle Ox tried to slice through the force field, but it didn't work. Krokodilus was still on the field. The card disappeared, as it was no longer in effect.

"And now I sacrifice Krokodilus to summon Rude Kaiser!" Mokuba said.

Krokodilus disappeared off the field and Rude Kaiser was in its place.

"Now attack Battle Ox, Rude Kaiser!"

Rude Kaiser attacked Battle Ox. Battle Ox took the attack, leaving me with 3900 life points.

"Not bad, Mokuba." I said, drawing a card from my deck.

The card I drew was Obelisk the Tormentor.

My eyes widened.

_"Obelisk?! Wait! Don't use it yet. Wait for a while."_

I tucked Obelisk into my hand and summoned another monster that was already in my hand, which was a Megalosmasher X.

"I summon Megalosmasher X in attack mode!" I said.

"Megalosmasher X?! Is that a new monster you bought, Seto?" Mokuba asked. I nodded.

"That's right, Mokuba! My Megalosmasher X is a level four type monster and pretty powerful since it has 2000 attack points!" I said.

Need a little more information on it? It's a dinosaur monster which looks like a Mosasaur but cooler.

"Megalosmasher X, attack his Rude Kaiser!"

Megalosmasher X went towards Rude Kaiser, snapping its jaws as it swam towards it. Megalosmasher X caught Rude Kaiser in its jaws and snapped, making Rude Kaiser disappear.

Mokuba was left with 3000 life points.

"Okay! I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior in defense mode!" Mokuba said.

A Magician-like monster appeared on the field.

_"I don't think I've seen that monster before. It looks powerful." _

"I end my turn."

"My turn!" I said, drawing a card. I drew The Mystical Elf trap card.

"I place two cards face-down and summon Enraged Battle Ox!" I said.

"I end my turn."

"I summon Gene-Warped Warwolf in attack mode, switch Breaker the Magical Warrior to attack mode, and I'll have Gene-Warped Warwolf attack your Enraged Battle Ox!"

"Not so fast! I reveal my two face down cards, the Mystical Elf and Crush Card Virus! I gain 300 life points for every monster on the field, and my Crush Card Virus eliminates every high leveled monster in your deck, Mokuba!"

"No you don't!" Mokuba said.

"What?! What just happened, Mokuba!?" My two trap cards disappeared off the field.

"My Breaker the Magical Warrior gains 300 attack points for every trap that was on the field! Now it has 2200 life points! Now attack his Enraged Battle ox, Gene-Warped Warwolf!"

My Enraged Battle Ox was attacked and defeated.

"I'm not done, big bro! Breaker the Magical Warrior, attack his X-Head Cannon! After that, I end my turn."

I was left with 3200 life points.

"You're better than I thought, Mokuba. This isn't over yet. I place down Banner of Courage! It's a Spell card that allows my monsters to gain 200 life points in their battle phase only. After that, I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode and I attack your Gene-Warped Warwolf! After that, I'll have Megalosmasher X attack your Breaker the Magical Warrior!"

Both monsters attacked my brother's monsters. Since they had the same attack points, Megalosmasher X and Gene-Warped Warwolf just disappeared after my attack.

But now Mokuba was left with 2900 life points.

"I end my turn."

"My turn! I summon Des Feral Imp in defense mode and end my turn."

_"He must've bought that one."_

"I summon Blizzard Dragon and I attack your Des Feral Imp!"

_"Just two more monsters to be put on the field. I'll use three as a sacrifice and I'll use two to power up Obelisk!"_

"I end my turn."

"I summon Peten the Dark Clown in defense mode and end my turn!"

"I summon Lord of Dragons and I attack your Peten the Dark Clown!"

Peten was attacked and disappeared off the field. But then he came back.

"That's his special effect, Mokuba. Every time Peten is attacked, he comes back. Your move, Mokuba."

"Not bad, Seto! I summon Armed Ninja in defense mode and end my turn."

"I summon Luster Dragon and attack your Armed Ninja!" I said.

Luster Dragon attacked the Armed Ninja. Armed ninja disappeared.

"Now I'll send Peten to the graveyard and I'll end my turn." I said.

"Huh?! Why?" Mokuba asked.

"Oh, you'll see, Mokuba."

Mokuba looked down at the cards in his hand.

"Okay, now I'll summon Crimson Ninja in defense mode and end my turn!"

_"He's either stalling or he's really struggling with the monsters he's getting."_ I thought. I pulled a card out of my deck. It was Monster Reborn.

I placed it on my Duel Disk.

"Now I'll activate Monster Reborn and I'll use it to bring back Megalosmasher X! Now, Blizzard Dragon, attack his Crimson Ninja!"

Megalosmasher X was back on the field. Blizzard Dragon attacked Mokuba's Crimson Ninja.

"I end my turn."

Mokuba summoned another low leveled monster.

_"What happened to those high leveled monsters he was summoning? I guess he didn't have a lot. Oh well. I'll use this chance to summon Obelisk the Tormentor!"_

"I sacrifice Lord of Dragons, Blizzard Dragon, and Luster Dragon to summon Obelisk the Tormentor!"

"S-SETO?!"

"I told you I wouldn't go easy on you, didn't I, Mokuba? But don't worry. I won't attack right now. I end my turn."

"Thanks, Seto. I'll summon Amazoness Sage in defense mode and end my turn."

_"Finally, a higher leveled monster! Well, it won't save him from losing."_ I thought.

"Obelisk, attack his monsters!"

Obelisk attacked his monsters. Being in defense mode, though, Mokuba didn't lose any life points.

"I summon Ehren, the Lightsworn Monk in attack mode!" Mokuba placed his card onto the field and grabbed four cards from the top of his deck. He sent those cards to the graveyard.

"I end my turn."

"My turn! I summon Z-Metal Tank in attack mode! But that's not all. I'll use both my monsters to double Obelisk's attack!"

Obelisk the Tormentor grabbed my Z-Metal Tank and Megalosmasher X and held them to its chest. Next, Obelisk squeezed both monsters.

The monsters turned into a yellow light and went into Obelisk, signifying that his attack power had doubled and was even greater than before.

"NOW, OBELISK! FIST OF FURY!"

Obelisk raised its right fist back and aimed it at Ehren, Lightsworn Monk before thrusting it at her. Ehren immediately disappeared. The impact of the fist was so strong that a strong wind enveloped the room.

Mokuba's hair flew behind him. A look of astonishment was on his face. Obelisk disappeared from the field.

Mokuba organized his deck and put it away. I did the same. He walked towards me.

"That was a great duel, Seto!"

"Thanks, Mokuba. You were pretty good too."

We both walked towards Noah, who had been watching the whole thing.

"That was a good duel. I'm hungry. Why don't we eat?" He said. Mokuba nodded.

"Sure, Noah. I could eat." He said.

Noah smiled and walked out of the room. We walked out with him. I closed the door behind me. I followed them.

I know I don't show it all the time, but I really do love my family, and nothing or no one's gonna change that.

_End __book_


End file.
